Courting new terrain
FOR someone who is currently the world’s top female squash player, Datuk Nicol David has no airs about her phenomenal success. In fact, it took her a while to soak it all in. The magnitude of her stellar achievements in squash didn’t occur to her until the 2006 World Open championship in Belfast, Northern Ireland, when she won her second World Open title. In the previous year, she won the same tournament in Hong Kong.
“Once you have your dreams come true – then all of a sudden – you can’t really grasp what’s going on. When I won the title for the second time, that’s when I realised that I am World Champion and this is actually real,” said Nicol during a phone interview from Amsterdam, Netherlands.
Recently, she won the gold medal for women’s singles squash at the 2014 Commonwealth Games in Glasgow, Scotland. The journalists gathered around the phone at HyppTV’s office in Kuala Lumpur, naturally congratulated Nicol on her recent victory.
“Thank you, thank you!” she enthused. “We didn’t do anything to celebrate (the win). After the game, I had to focus on the next day’s women’s doubles match. Then I came back to Amsterdam and had to start training again for the next tournament. So there hadn’t been any time to celebrate just yet,” Nicol said with a laugh.
Penang-born Nicol has been training in Amsterdam for the past 11 years. It is this glimpse into her daily life that will be featured on an episode of Entourage titled Datuk Nicol David.
The series airing on HyppTV’s Trace Sport Stars HD channel allows viewers a chance to spend a day with some of the world’s famous sports personalities including Barcelona football star Luis Suarez and Tour de France winner Mark Cavendish.
“It’s always great to have a platform to promote squash. I love how I get to share more about the sport with viewers. It was also pretty fun to shoot (the episode).”
Nicol added that viewers will also get to see how she trains under the guidance of her coach, former world No. 2, Liz Irving. Watching the episode, perhaps what becomes clear is how disciplined and dedicated Nicol is at playing squash professionally.
“I spend most of my time training and recovering from it. Then it’s back to training again,” the 30year-old shared with a laugh.
When it comes to her dietary requirements as a sports person, like a true Malaysian, she said: “I just eat everything! “It helps with recovery and during competition. You want to make sure you have enough fuel. You have to manage according to when you play as well. It is difficult sometimes because you have to travel and compete in different places. Usually, food options are limited to around where you’re staying. You just have to find a way to make it work.
“During tournaments, I eat mostly carbs like pasta and rice.”
Her next challenge is the current CIMB Malaysian Open, which is happening this week. After that, she’ll head to Hong Kong for another tournament and then the 2014 Asian Games in Incheon, South Korea.
She revealed that when she has time for herself, music is mostly on her mind.
“I’ll attend a gig or go to my basic street dance class. It’s just for fun really. It’s easy to do that here because you’re surrounded by so much music, arts and culture.” Nicol hoped viewers will be inspired by her Entourage episode. On what the show is all about, she explained that it’s mostly to give some sort of understanding of what it’s like to be an athlete.
“If you have a dream and you want to do it properly, you have to get ready to do it at a place where you can get the right expertise.” She added: “With the right coach, I learned so much. You can also learn how to adapt and compete while you’re travelling. I also want viewers to see that I’m surrounded by good company here.”
Entourage: Datuk Nicol David premieres today at 9pm on Trace Sport Stars HD (HyppTV Ch 710).