Dear Nicol, there will never be another like you

On Tuesday evening, Nicol David lost a squash match at the British Open. The world number 18 lost in four sets in the second round to Egyptian Nour El Tayeb.

Nour is one of 7 Egyptian players ranked above Nicol, showing how the paradigm has shifted since she burst onto the scene as a 15-year-old who bagged the 1998 Asian Games gold. The match might have been like any other, except it was Nicol’s last match as a professional squash player.

It’s an emotional time for Malaysian sports fans as we will never see another like her. Nicol David was a phenomenon. She has won a record eight World championships, five British Open titles, 81 PSA titles and held the top ranking spot in women’s squash for 109 consecutive months from 2006-2015.

Nicol’s greatness comes in many forms. The simple numbers are astounding. This is someone who didn’t stop at being just good or the best of her era, but who is a genuine contender for being the greatest women’s squash player of all time (the two main rivals being Australia’s Heather McKay who won 16 consecutive British Open titles and only lost two matches in her entire career and New Zealand’s Susan Devoy who dominated the game for much of the 1980s).

But beyond the numbers, Nicol David was a symbol, a triumph of ambition, talent and incredibly hard work. Like many Malaysians, she had some degree of innate skill. 

I recall her name in the papers, even as an 11-year-old following her older sisters Cheryl and Lianne to tournaments. There was a match very early on when she played a much older player and lost without scoring a point. That sort of experience might destroy a young person’s confidence, but Nicol just brushed it off as part of her learning curve.

She kept on coming, bigger and better, using her stamina and skill to defeat many opponents who were larger and seemingly more powerful. A key factor was when she was 19 and underwent a five-week training stint in Amsterdam with retired Aussie player Liz Irving (a former world number 2 herself). 

She found the facilities were to her liking and she had many sparring partners to help her improve. She decided that this was what she needed to take her game to the next level. And she found a way to make it work.

Reaching the top of her game was not enough for Nicol David. She stayed there for 10 years. From 2005 to 2014 she was indisputably the game’s premier player. She overhauled sisters Natalie and Rachel Grinham and Vanessa Atkinson, and had a brief spell when New Zealand’s Shelley Kitchen kept defeating her. But by and large she was dominant – at the 2010 World Open, she won every match in straight games.

Nicol also had some epic encounters where she showed that her spirit was unquenchable. The 2014 world final when she saved four match points before overhauling Egypt’s Raneem El Weleily in Cairo was to prove to be her last and most memorable tournament victory.

Over the last three years she has experienced a gradual decline in results, but how she handled it served to show what a classy human she is. She emerged as an ambassador for the sport, spearheading squash’s attempt to be counted among the ranks of Olympic sports.

She always had kind and encouraging words, whether it be for her opponents or upcoming youngsters. The admiration with which she hailed her most likely successor Nour El Sherbini was both gracious and touching.

Nicol just posted this on FB a few hours ago: Still no words to describe this moment after my last match on the Squash - PSA World Tour against a kind and gracious squash star Nour El Tayeb. My sincere thank you to all who have been a part of this ride with me and most importantly to squash. #thedreamremains

I do wish we had been able to follow her triumphs more directly. We are all Nicol fans, but how many of us got to watch live coverage of her greatest moments? I was often following on sports sites or Twitter!

The child of a Malaysian Chinese mother and a Malaysian Indian Eurasian father who played in goal for Penang, Nicol was also a fantastic student – someone I hold up to my own Chindian children as an example of the very best of Malaysia.

It remains to be seen what she tackles next, but we know she has the power to do whatever she wants. She has stated that she would continue to contribute to the sport by working with the PSA, empowering young women in the sport through her Nicol David Foundation, and sharing her story ‘Nurturing Belief’ through a series of talks and writing.

So, yes, the reflexes slowed down, the stamina lagged. It has happened to every great champion.

But Nicol’s is a story of a young Malaysian who dared to take on the world.

And won.

And did it over and over and over again.

Salute.

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MARTIN VENGADESAN is a member of the Malaysiakini team. - Mkini