The Sun (Malaysia)

Nicol puts M’sia and Asia at the top

- Ű BY NAVJEET SINGH newsdesk@thesundail­y.com

NICOL ANN DAVID was born in Penang on Aug 26, 1983.

Voted women’s “Greatest Player Of AllTime” in a poll conducted by Profession­al Squash Associatio­n (PSA) in 2018, Nicol held the world No. 1 spot for a record 109 months consecutiv­ely from 2006 to 2015.

The eight-time world champion officially retired at the end of the 2018/19 PSA season in June.

Heralded as Malaysia’s most successful Asian Games athlete with seven gold medals (including two in team championsh­ip), Nicol won her first World Junior Championsh­ip title at the tender age of just 15 in July 1999.

Two years later she becomes the first player to win the World Junior Championsh­ip title twice.

In early 2005 she was awarded the Young Female Player of the Year and later that same year the Women’s Internatio­nal Squash Players Associatio­n (WISPA) Player of the Year.

She also won her first World Open title in the same year.

Nicol received internatio­nal attention following her success in 2005, and in January 2006 she was officially ranked the No. 1 female player in the world – a status never before held by an Asian woman.

Outstandin­g Malaysians of the Decade – Sports

Her second consecutiv­e World Open title capped a 2006 campaign in which she won six championsh­ips.

She excelled further in 2007, securing seven titles and another World Open crown.

She captured 10 titles during an undefeated 2008 season and began a 56-match winning streak that spanned 17 months.

Nicol secured seven more titles in 2009, including her fourth World Open; she defended that championsh­ip in 2010 as part of a nine-title campaign.

In the following season she earned seven more championsh­ip titles, including a record sixth World Open crown.

During that tournament, Nicol was inducted into the World Squash Federation Hall of Fame and declared the 12th “legend” of the sport.

Nicol was conferred a Datukship by Penang state government and received the Order of Merit – Malaysia’s highest honour – both in 2008.

Nicol is Malaysia’s most successful Asian

Games athlete.

 ??  ??

Newspapers in English

Newspapers from Malaysia