World champion Nicol vows to keep on breaking records

ROTTERDAM: The past few days have been a dream for Nicol David and she has had more than her share of priceless moments.
First, the squash legend from Pe­­nang, who has been based in Am­­sterdam since 2003, was inducted into her sport’s Hall of Fame on Sa­­turday for her amazing accomplishments.
A day later, the long reigning world No. 1 created history by winning a record sixth world title - the first woman to do so in the 35-year history of the championships.

Moving forward: With the world title under her belt, Nicol David will now go for a record sixth Hong Kong Open title this month.

Nicol has won all the major tournaments her sport has to offer and no other Malaysian athlete comes close to matching her achievements – 56 titles and still counting.
What was really amazing is the way she played in the final, pummelling world No. 2 Jenny Duncalf of England into submission in straight sets - 11-2, 11-5, 11-0 - in just 29 minutes. Such was her domination that Duncalf simply surrendered.
The 28-year-old Nicol, who has been the world No. 1 since August 2006, said that the win over Duncalf was the pinnacle of her professional career which began in 2000.
“It was my best performance to date. I didn’t want anyone else, but me, to put their hands on the trophy,” she said.
“Winning was great and the record means the world to me,” said Nicol, who surpassed the previous milestone of five titles she jointly held with her mentor, Australian Sarah FitzGerald.
But far from being satisfied, Nicol is hungry for even more success and plans to play on for another five to seven years. That is bad news for her rivals.
“I hope to stay injury-free and win many more tournaments. Per­haps even a few more world titles so that nobody can overhaul my record,” she said with a glint in her eye.
Nicol’s 56 Wispa titles put her level with former world champion Michelle Martin of Australia. She now wants to beat FitzGerald’s record of 62 to seal her reputation as the best player in the history of the game.

That should be a breeze if Nicol keeps playing like she did in Rotter­dam. And given her insatiable appetite for records, it will be some time yet before the final chapter of the Nicol David legend is written.
“Winning always feels good. But the pressure is mounting as there are several young players beginning to make their mark. The Egyptian girls have plenty of potential and are a real threat,” said Nicol.
“I have to work two to three times harder to stay on top. I will continue training in Amsterdam under coach Liz Irving as it has been a highly successful arrangement.
Nicol’s only regret is that she will not be able to add an Olympic gold medal to her impressive collection of trophies.
“It’s a pity that the IOC (Inter­na­tion­al Olympic Committee) have not deem­ed it fit to include squash in the Games,” lamented Nicol, who won the world junior title in 1999 and 2001.
She has also won the World Games title twice - Duisburg, Germany, in 2005, and Kaohsiung, Taiwan, in 2009 - and bagged three British Open titles - in 2005, 2006 and 2008.
Nicol is the first Malaysian to win the Commonwealth Games squash gold medal - at New Delhi last year - and has won eight Asian championships and three Asian Games -1998, 2006 and last year - gold medals.
She has also won the Wispa’s Player of the Year award five times since 2006.
That is a giddy list of achievements by any standard and Nicol is taking a well-deserved break after her Rotter­dam high. She is going on a Roman holiday with her parents Desmond and Mary Ann.
“My parents have never been to Rome and I need a rest after winning the world title,” said Nicol, whose next last assignment of the year is the Hong Kong Open starting on Nov 15.
She will be gunning for another record in Hong Kong too – her sixth consecutive title.
Nicol’s male counterpart, Nick Matthew also lived up to his top ranking in the world championships. Matthew beat Gregory Gaultier of France 6-11, 11-9, 11-6, 11-5 to win the crown for the second time on Sunday.

Source : Thestar