Tuesday September 11, 2012

Bigger women’s draw will boost quality of event, says Nicol

KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysian squash queen Nicol David believes that the bigger women’s draw for the CIMB Malaysian Open will make it a higher quality and more interesting event.

The Malaysian Open women’s event is now in its second year as a World Series Gold event, resulting in it being upgraded from a 16-player draw previously to the current 32-player draw.

World No. 1 Nicol, who is aiming to bag her eighth consecutive title here and equal Susan Devoy’s all-time record of 63 Women’s Squash Association (WSA) titles, believes that will only make things tougher for her.

“This tournament has always been a quality event and the 32-player draw will make it a lot more interesting,” Nicol told a press conference yesterday.

“I’ve been playing good squash and it was great to win the British and Australian Opens earlier this year.”

The 29-year-old Nicol also commended CIMB for their continued support of squash, praising their decision to sponsor national men’s No. 2 Mohd Nafiizwan Adnan.

“It’s great news regarding Nafiizwan’s sponsorship ... I feel that CIMB has really given a lot to squash, especially in taking another player on board,” said the Penangite.

“I understand that funding for squash in Malaysia has always been limited and in a way, I’m really lucky that I still receive support from the National Sports Council (NSC).

“But, on the whole, Malaysian squash is a lot better off compared to other countries as most do not receive any fundings at all since it’s not an Olympic sport.

“Only England, Egypt and Hong Kong have financial support for squash, so we’re really lucky and the younger players should utilise their chances well. The fact that people are willing to support the sport augurs well for its future. Hopefully, it’ll inspire more juniors to live up to their potential.”

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