Malaysian marvel maintains her hold on the world rankings
By HOWARD HARDING – Squash Mad Correspondent
Just days after becoming the first woman squash player to win two successive Commonwealth Games gold medals, Malaysia’s Nicol David marks another major milestone in the August Women’s World Squash Rankings by celebrating her 100th month as world No1 in the list published today by the Women’s Squash Association (WSA).
The now 30-year-old from Penang first topped the list in January 2006, but slipped to No2 for four months from April before bouncing back in August to begin an unprecedented unbroken run until today.
David’s achievements in squash are unparalleled: After becoming the first player ever to win two world junior titles, she went on to claim a record seven World Championship titles amongst a haul of 74 WSA World Tour titles from 93 final appearances.
David pays tribute to her long-time coach Liz Irving for the success she has achieved: “Liz completely revolutionised my squash. She had belief in my ability and constantly adds to my game.
“But she’s more than a coach,” says David of the one-time world No2 from Australia. “She’s my mentor in every way. She’s been there before.”
David also acknowledges the invaluable help she has had from coaches Sarah Fitz-Gerald and Vicki Cardwell; Sports psychologist Frank Cabooter; physio Ronald Fauvel; and her parents.
“The whole team is really vital to me – I couldn’t be where I am without them all,” concluded David.
In a relatively unchanged world top 20, England’s 2014 Commonwealth Games silver medallist Laura Massaro remains at No2, with Egypt’s Raneem El Welily in third place and Glasgow 2014 bronze medallist Joelle King, of New Zealander, at No4.
WSA Rankings August 2014
1 [1] Nicol David MAS 3,533
2 [2] Laura Massaro ENG 2,379
3 [3] Raneem El Welily EGY 1,754
4 [4] Joelle King NZL 1,171
5 [5] Camille Serme FRA 1,107
6 [6] Alison Waters ENG 1,036
7 [7] Low Wee Wern MAS 995
8 [8] Nour El Sherbini EGY 906
9 [9] Annie Au HKG 761
10 [10] Dipika Pallikal IND 750
11 [11] Madeline Perry IRL 648
12 [12] Omneya Abdel Kawy EGY 637
13 [14] Jenny Duncalf ENG 575
14 [15] Rachael Grinham AUS 573
15 [13] Amanda Sobhy USA 567
16 [16] Kasey Brown AUS 509
17 [17] Sarah-Jane Perry ENG 468
18 [18] Sarah Kippax ENG 465
19 [19] Nicolette Fernandes GUY 463
20 [20] Emma Beddoes ENG 448
For the complete WSA ranking list, see www.wsaworldtour.com
For all the latest WSA Tour news: wsaworldtour.com
Picture by GLENN GUAN (The Star, Malaysia)