Laura Massaro relinquishes her crown to Malaysia ace
World number one Nicol David regained her Allam British Open title today to become a five-time champion as she defeated holder England’s Laura Massaro in a pulsating final at the Hull Sports Arena.
Massaro took a tight first game 11/8 before David fought back to take her fifth British Open title 3-1 in 64 minutes.
A delighted Nicol David told the crowd: “To win the British Open means the world, Laura played a great match today and I really had to dig deep to win this title back.
“I was playing for my life out there. It felt great to come out on the winning end knowing that all the hard work that you put in does pay off.
“Dr. Allam has brought the prestige back to the British Open and it’s been fantastic. Raising the prize money for the women has been tremendous for the tour. We need more people like Dr. Allam involved in the sport,” she concluded.
The Malaysian’s coach Liz Irving, a former world No2 from Australia, summed up the significance of the win to her Twitter followers later: “I am so humbled by the integrity of Nicol. Her drive, her work ethic. She worked hard for this title! A real inspiration!”
Despite the loss Massaro remained upbeat: “I can honestly say I gave it my all today so overall I’m pretty pleased. I knew today would bring out Nicol’s best level, I hoped it would. You want to play players at the top of her game and my main goal was to play my best.
“I wanted to come off today knowing where I stand, whether I deserve to be anywhere near her in the rankings or not. I’m not far away at all, we were both at our best.
“I gave it everything that I had so I can’t be too disappointed with the result. Even though I’ve lost it will give me a lot of confidence going into the next tournament.
“It’s a goal to be number one in the world, but she’s a brilliant player. I’m going to have a little break next week as it’s my only chance before the Commonwealth Games. I’ve got a lot of doubles practise coming up and I’m really looking forward to the Games,” finished Massaro.
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Picture by Squash Site