By: Ezzat Amier
17/3/2017
Nicol David is a Malaysian professional
squash player who has been the World’s number one player consecutively for 87
months from August 2006 to November 2013. She has been considered as the top
contender for title of ‘The greatest squash player of all time’. She has won
the World Open seven times and also consecutively five times from 2008-2012.
She has won the Asian Squash for a record eight times from 1998-2011. She has
also been the WISPA Player of the year from 2005-2010.
Nicole ‘Ann’ David was born in Penang,
Malaysia on August 26, 1983. Her father Desmond David was an engineer and her
mother Anne Marie David was a school teacher. As a child, Nicol was interested
in mathematics and she aspired to be an engineer like her father. She started
playing squash as a pastime at the age of 5. By the age of 8, she was enrolled
in a proper coaching setup. She was soon called up to represent her states
Penang in the 1992 National Junior Interstate Championship. In that competition
Nicol surprised everyone by winning the silver medal in the U-16 category. In
1994 she was able to win her first international titles in the form of the
Scottish Junior Open U-12 and the Hong Kong U-13 tournaments.
Having personal goals during early
childhood is not something many would have given much thought. Datuk Nicol
David, who started her journey towards achieving her ambition at a tender age
of five, is one extraordinary person who knew what she wanted right from the
beginning of her illustrious career.
“When I was nine to 10 years old I was already
travelling around Malaysia for squash and subsequently, travelling overseas and
meeting new friends,” she recalls, adding that people were also telling her
that she was talented and could go somewhere in future.
“All these words encouraged me to step up in
order to do this better,” she says, recalling how she had to push herself
further from the moment she set her mind on pursuing squash seriously.
Early Career…
At 16, Nicol was the champion for both
the under-17 and under-19 categories at the 1999 British Junior Open, champion
for the senior and team categories at the South-East Asian Games and champion
for the under-19 category at the German Junior Open. Her greatest feat that
year was becoming the youngest winner of the Women’s World Junior Championships
in Antwerp. A year later, Nicol entered the professional circuit by joining the
Women’s International Squash Players Association (WISPA) and went on to win her
first professional title at the Savcor Finnish Open.
She
was a great talent that had the potential of becoming the one of the top
players in the world. In 1999 she proved her skills by winning the Women’s
World Junior Squash Championships at the age of 15. In that competition she
went on to beat three players who were placed in the top 20 rankings in the
world.
She was just a schoolgirl who went on to
defeat other experienced players with relative ease. This performance made
headlines throughout the world of sport and made Nicol an overnight star. In
2001, she went on to win the World Junior Championship competition for the
second time.
In the year 2000, Nicol turned
professional by joining the WISPA. Within the first month on the tour Nicol was
able to win her first title. In the Savcor Finnish open, she defeated Salma
Shabana to win her first title. This was only the first of the dozens of
trophies that were set to follow.
By the year 2005, she had become such a
dominant player on the tour that she lost only 2 matches throughout the whole
year. She won World Open and the Malaysian Open. But her greatest achievement
was the winning of the British Open, being the first Asian to do so. Her
dominance also got her the World No.1 ranking in August 2006 which she would
not relinquish for the next six years. In 2006 she continued her string of
impressive performances by defending the World Open, Malaysia Open, British
open. Additionally she won the Penang Open, Qatra Airways Open Challenge, Hong
Kong Open, etc.
Career Highlights..
Again in 2007 she was able to reach many
finals and was awarded the inaugural Asian Sportswoman of the Year Award. In
2008 she did the unbelievable by not losing a single match in the complete
calendar year. Thus she was able to win all the competitions she participated
in that year. Nicol has gone on to set numerous records over the years winning
prestigious tournaments repeatedly. As of 2013, she has 70 WISPA titles with
win percentage of 90.5% (304-32). She is easily the most dominant player that
the world has ever seen in squash history. From being a good student in
academics, Nicol David has become a great student of the sport of squash which
has made her the undisputed champion of the sport. She has been one of the most
successful players that the sporting world has seen in the last century.
Awards
proud to be Malaysian
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