Malaysian superstar Nicol David collected a record sixth World Open title
at the impressive Luxor Theatre in Rotterdam with a supreme performance to
dismiss second seed Jenny Duncalf in straight games in just under half an
hour. In front of a capacity crowd of just under 1500, David demonstrated
why she is lauded as the greatest player of all-time giving her opponent no
quarter.
The English world number two didn't do anything wrong, made very few
unforced errors, but she had to work so hard to stay in the rallies let
alone win them that it was hard to see where her points were going to come
from. The Malaysian was moving and hitting supremely well, exerting her
presence on the match and on her opponent from the first exchange. david
led 5/0 in the first after some long opening rallies, taking it 11/2, she
led 6/2 in the second, finishing it off 11/5, and was totally dominant in
the third as Duncalf's spirit understandably wilted. There will have been few such impressive displays in squash, let-alone in the final of the
Tour’s blue riband event.
Six titles in seven years for David and the Malaysian superstar lived up to
her top billing. "She was ridiculously good today," admitted Duncalf. "I
wanted to stay on there as long as possible, but she had other ideas…"
David was quick to acknowledge that it had all come together too: "This is
my best performance ever. I didn’t expect anything but I wanted it so
badly, I didn’t want anybody to put their hands on that trophy but me. I
had a great support in the crowd, they were magnificent, I had my parents,
Liz (Irving), and a big team of supporters from Squash City in Amsterdam
that came to support me.
"My World Open titles mean the world to me, but I would gladly trade the
six of them for just one Olympic Medal…"****
*[1] Nicol David (Mas) bt [2] Jenny Duncalf (Eng) 11/2, 11/5,
11/0 (28m)*****
