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| Human Interest | |
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Further Personal Information | |
| Residence | Amsterdam, NED |
Sport Specific Information | |
| Why this sport? | One of her father's friends built the first public squash centre in Penang, Malaysia. Her older sisters Lianne and Cheryl played the sport, and she began going along with them. |
General Interest | |
| Awards and honours | She was one of six athletes chosen to carry the Commonwealth Games Federation [CGF] flag at the opening ceremony of the 2014 Commonwealth Games in Glasgow, Scotland. An athlete was chosen from each region of the Commonwealth, and David represented the eight Asian nations competing at the Games. (bernama.com.my, 11 Jun 2014) She was named the Women's Squash Association [WSA] Player of the Year for six consecutive years between 2005 and 2010. She also won the award in 2012. (wsaworldtour.com, 2013; squashmagazine.com, 2012) She was inducted into the World Squash Federation Hall of Fame in November 2011, becoming the first active player to be receive the honour. (worldsquash.org, 10 Nov 2011) She was voted Malaysia's Sportswoman of the Year for the 10th time in 2014. (worldsquash.org, 10 Nov 2011; malaysiandigest.com, 29 Apr 2015) In 2008 she was presented with the Order of Merit by the king of Malaysia. (nicoldavidonline.com, 05 May 2009) She was one of the first entrants into Malaysia's SportExcel Hall of Fame in July 2002. (The Star, 09 Jul 2002) |
Sport Specific Information | |
| Name of coach | Peter Genever [national], GBR; Liz Irving [personal], AUS, from 2003 |
| Handedness | Right |
| When and where did you begin this sport? | She began playing squash at age five. |
Further Personal Information | |
| Occupation | Athlete |
| Languages | English, Malay |
General Interest | |
| Nicknames | The Smiling Assassin (squashtalk.com 05 May 2009; issuu.com, 04 Feb 2015) |
| Other information | NATIONAL FIRSTS She became the first Malaysian squash player to win a gold medal at the Commonwealth Games when she claimed victory in singles at the 2010 Games in Delhi, India. She also became the first Malaysian squash player to win gold at the Asian Games when she placed first in singles at the 1998 Games in Bangkok. (SportsDeskOnline, 26 Jun 2018) OTHER ACTIVITIES In December 2008 she set up an online social media news, blog and entertainment portal called Squash Stars. The purpose of the platform is to promote women squash players with the ultimate aim of promoting the sport for the Olympic Games. (Squash Stars Facebook page, 28 Oct 2017; paultan.org, 10 Jan 2018) TURNING POINT She believes relocating to the Netherlands in 2003 to join up with Australian coach Liz Irving really launched her career. "The move to Amsterdam got me to go back a step and break everything down from scratch. I started from pretty much zero to build my technique and my movement and learn how to volley well. In the seniors it was a whole different ball game as opposed to being in the juniors. That was my turning point to be where I am right now." (nytimes.com, 18 Sep 2014) |
| Hobbies | Reading, travelling, world cuisine, art, drawing. (nst.com.my, 08 Jul 2017; star2.com, 22 Aug 2017; psaworldtour.com, 2018) |
| Famous relatives | Her sisters Lianne and Cheryl have both played squash at national level in Malaysia. Her father represented the state of Penang in athletics, football and hockey. (nytimes.com, 18 Sep 2014; nurain4e.blogspot.com, 30 Sep 2013) |
| Most influential person in career | Her parents. (princesquash.com, 29 Jan 2014) |
| Hero / Idol | US basketball player Michael Jordan, Swiss tennis player Roger Federer. (princesquash.com, 29 Jan 2014; thestar.com.my, 16 Apr 2018) |
| Ambitions | To compete at the Olympic Games. (thestar.com.my, 19 Apr 2018) |
| Sporting philosophy / motto | "Live life to the fullest." (nicoldavid.com, 01 Jan 2013) |
| Injuries | In early 2018 she suffered hamstring and adductor strain injuries, which caused her to miss the British Open in May that year. (thestar.com.my, 05 May 2018) In December 2016 a hamstring injury meant that she was unable to compete at the Malaysian Doubles Open in Kuala Lumpur. (thestar.com.my, 19 Dec 2016) In September 2015 she was forced to miss the Macau Open due to a calf injury. (thestar.com.my, 12 Sep 2015) |