A Malaysian Best
Nicol climbs to third in the world – the best ever by a Malaysian
By RAJES PAUL
PETALING JAYA: Malaysia’s Nicol David notched another milestone
in her squash career, breaking into the third spot in the world
rankings for the first time.
She is also the first Malaysian to
have achieved the feat. National men’s player Ong Beng Hee only managed
a career-best seventh place in the world rankings.
The 21-year-old Nicol moved one rung to dislodge Australian Natalie
Grinham in the Women’s International Squash Players’ Association
(Wispa) world ranking list released on Wednesday.
The two players ranked ahead of her are Australian Rachael Grinham and Holland’s Vanessa Atkinson.
Today, Nicol will get to justify her new status when she plays in the Mamut Dutch Open in Amsterdam.
Atkinson and Natalie are seeded first and second in the US$31,000 Dutch
Open. The seedings are based on May’s world rankings. Rachael is not
taking part in Amsterdam.
Nicol, the third seed, is expected to play Atkinson in the semi-finals.
If she clears that hurdle, she is likely to meet Natalie in the final.
The Squash Rackets Association of Malaysia (SRAM) are delighted with Nicol’s continued progress in the world rankings.
SRAM executive director Wong Ah Jit said that Nicol, who is currently
based in Amsterdam, was on the right track to become the first Asian
woman player to be ranked as the world number one. She is already the
highest-ranked Asian woman ever.
Ah Jit said Nicol should do well in the Dutch Open and the Malaysian Open (July 27-30) to break away from Natalie.
“We are surprised with Nicol’s move in the world standings. She did not
win any tournaments in May but due to technical adjustments in the
world rankings, she was able to take over third spot from Natalie. But
this is a very important move for her,” said Ah Jit.
“Her points are quite close to those of Natalie. This is the time for
Nicol to break away from the Australian. She should now maintain her
position and look forward to challenging the two players currently
ahead of her by doing well in the Dutch Open starting today and in next
month’s Malaysian Open.
“We are very proud of Nicol. We are certainly looking forward to the day when she becomes world number one.”
Nicol’s best achievement this year was in upsetting world number one
Rachael in the semi-finals and world number five Natalie Grainger en
route to winning the Kuwait Open in April.
In February, Nicol emerged as the Kuala Lumpur Open champion.
