HT’s Star Personality

Hometown Roots

Born in Penang, Nicol David is the daughter of Ann Marie David, a school teacher of Hokkien–Hakka descent and Desmond David, a Malaysian Indian engineer. Her primary education was at Convent Green Lane Primary School following which she moved to Convent Green Lane Secondary School in Penang.

Nicol David first began playing squash when she was five years old, and received coaching at the age of eight. While training at the Bukit Dumbar Squash Centre, Nicol David’s potential was spotted by Ee Phoeh Hoon, who led her to represent Penang. Nicol David’s squash career began in 1992 when she won silver in the Under-14 category of the Penang State Junior Championship.In 1994, Nicol David was chosen to join the Penang state squash team for the Malaysian Games tournament where she helped Penang win a gold medal in the team event. In the same year, she won her first two international titles – the Hong Kong U-13 and the Scottish Junior Open Under-12.

In 1999, she won the Women’s World Junior Squash Championships of 1999 making her the youngest woman to become the world junior champion at the age of 15. In the process, she defeated three players ranked in the world top 20. She successfully defended the title in Penang in 2001, becoming one of only two players in the history of squash to have won it twice.

In 1999, Nicol David began to win major junior tournaments, including the British Junior Open,  the German Junior Open,the SEA Games (Champion in the Senior and Team categories) and the Asian Junior Champion for both individual and team events.

Professional Career

When she turned professional in 2000 at the young age of 17 it was no surprise that she toiled for a few years before hitting the big time in the sport. However, in 2005 she won the World Games in Germany, the Malaysian Open and the British Open in a rise which saw her also voted by her fellow members of the Women’s International Squash Players Association as the WISPA Player of The Year 2005. In January 2006 Nicol David became the World’s number 1 female squash player,  the first Malaysian and the first Asian woman to be ranked World number 1 in the sport.

Since then Nicol David has not only reigned at the top of the squash world but has achieved remarkable durability that only a very few others such as Federer and Nadal in tennis and Lin Dan and Lee Chong Wei can match in the racquet world. 

Beginning in August 2006, Nicol David was the world number one for a record-breaking 108 consecutive months.  She has won the World Open title a record 8 times in 2005, 2006, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012 and 2014, as well as the British Open title in 2005, 2006, 2008, 2012 and 2014. In July 2016, she reached her 151st successive month in the top 10, breaking the record in both men’s and women’s categories. 

In a poll conducted in 2018 by the Professional Squash Association (PSA), Nicol David was voted by fans as the greatest squash player of all time in the women’s category.