Famous Celebrities in Malaysia (Nicol Ann David)

Life’s Background

Nicol Ann David was born on August 26, 1983 in Penang, Malaysia, is a Malaysian professional squash player. She is currently the World No. 1 in women's squash (she is the first Asian woman to be ranked World No. 1 in the sport). She captured the World Open title in 2005, 2006 and 2008, and the British Open title in 2005, 2006 and 2008.

Nicol is a Chindian daughter of Ann Marie David and Desmond David. Her father is an Indian Malaysian engineer, and her mother is a retired Chinese Malaysian school teacher. She has two sisters named Lianne Marie and Cheryl Therese, both of whom are accomplished squash players at the national level. As a youngster, Nicol enjoys reading and Mathematics was her best subject in school. Nicol scored a striking 9 A's in her Sijil Pelajaran Malaysia (the equivalent to O-levels), for which she studied at Convent Green Lane Secondary School in Green Lane, Penang.

Junior squash

Nicol David first encounter with squash began at a tender age of 5, at that time she was very small that even her racquets were bigger than her. At that time she did not even have the strength to lift them. But through the years, with proper guidance and regimented exercise and training, she managed to build herself up and at the age of 8 she started to take squash seriously with regular training and by being involved in competitive games.

One day while training at the Bukit Dumbar Squash Centre, Nicol was talent-spotted by Miss Ee Phoeh Hoon, who led her to representing her home state of Penang with her sisters. Her squash career began in 1992 when she first won a silver in the Under 14 category of the Penang State Junior Championship. Nicol’s first national level win was also in 1992 at the Milo-Dunlop National Junior Interstate Championship where she won the silver for the Under 16 category. In 1994, Nicol was chosen to join the Penang state squash team for the Sukan Malaysia Games (SUKMA) tournament where she helps Penang to win the gold medal in the team event. In the same year, she won her first international title by capturing the Scottish Junior Open Under-12 title. She then continued her striking performance by winning four more titles in 1995 and 1996 respectively.

Then, Nicol began dominating the squash scene by winning the Asian championship as well as becoming the youngest player to become the world’s woman junior champion. She was merely 15 years old and in the process of becoming the junior champion, she beat 3 players who were ranked in the world’s top 20. She won the junior championship twice and became the only 2 players in the history of squash to have achieved the feat. She is also the only women's squash player to have won all the age categories in the British Junior Open.

World Career

Nicol David is the first squash player to have won the World Junior title twice (1999 and 2000) under the tutelage of Richard Glanfield. She remained the only female squash player to have achieved this, until Raneem El Weleily emulated David's feat by winning her second World Junior Championship in 2007. Nicol moved inexorably up the senior rankings to become a fixture in the top flight. At a very young age, she has been invited to carry the Olympic torch for Malaysia during the build up to the Athens Olympics in 2004 and being appointed a UN goodwill ambassador.

On December 4, 2005, Nicol beat Rachael Grinham in the final of the Hong Kong World Open to become the youngest world champion. She then defended her title on November 25, 2006, at the historic Ulster Hall in Belfast by beating Natalie Grinham in the final. She became the first Malaysian athlete to win a world championship title for the 2nd consecutive time, and the fourth person in history to retain the World Open Squash Championship.

Nicol David's other notable achievements include the Asian squash championship, which she won with a record of six times (in 1998, 2000, 2002, 2004, 2006 and 2008). She also held a 13-month, 51-match winning streak, from March 2006 to April 2007 when she finally lost to Natalie Grinham in the final of the 2007 Seoul Open. In today's standard of professional squash, which is regarded by many as being much more competitive than what it was decades ago, having a winning streak comparable to this is an achievement not easily obtainable.

Nicol has risen in name after her near total dominance of the game in recent years. The Current Malaysian Prime Minister Dato' Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi, a fellow Penangite, quipped once that David is "now more famous than me". Considering her young age, she is expected to remain the top female player in the game for a while to come.