I was once again invited by SquashStars.com as a capacity of photographer and founder of Nicol David Online, the fan site that has been around since 1998.

Despite being a working day, it was a full house at the National Squash Center.

The event started with opening welcome remarks by Tuan Haji Hasbullah Awang as the emcee. It was followed by a very interesting video montage highlighting the story of Nicol.

Right after the opening remarks, it was time for the main event, the unveiling ceremony of Nicol David Arena.

The lovely world champion broke down in tears as she witnessed the unveiling of her name all around the court. I was 1 meter away from her and it is a moment that I will never forget.

It was a very emotional moment and it took her a couple of seconds for her to regain composure

Proud Parents

Right after the unveiling ceremony, Nicol went into her court to have the first game on Nicol David Arena. It was her versus the Youth and Sports Minister Datuk Ahmad Shabery Cheek.

Of course, Nicol won easily. Otherwise the court would be known as Arena Ahmad Shabery Cheek!

At least Datuk Ahmad Shabery got a good souvenir!

Immediately after the quick play, Nicol entertained a few questions from the guests. Nothing different from questions we’ve heard and read about. One thing that never fails to amaze me is Nicol’s PR skills! Excellent.

Followed by the incentives award ceremony for squash achievers. Great to see that the development program is going on as Malaysia building its reputation as the country that produce world-class squash stars.

The Center Court was not the only area being named after Nicol David. The Government decided to set-up a gallery inside the NSC dedicated to capture Nicol’s success stories. It’s amazing to see the jerseys, trophies, photos that all this while is being captured online on Nicol David Online.

Right after the official event, squash fans were given the chance to mingle with Nicol David. Thanks to SquashStars.com, a group of children from HOPE Worldwide were given the chance to meet Nicol, ask her questions and get their t-shirt autographed.

Not to forget, photos and autographs for us, the Nicol David Online team~!

It was a great afternoon witnessing the event and being able to meet up with Nicol once again~! Congratulations Nicol and may this recognition motivates you even more to bring back more trophies, after all the trophy cabinet still have space for few years of trophies

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****

It’s squash time once again. The annual Malaysian Open 2009 Squash tournament was held last weekend at its usual venue of National Squash Center Bukit Jalil and the final rounds at The Curve Damansara. Every year I always make an attempt to attend the two tournaments held in KL which are the KL Open and the Malaysian Open. These are the few times that I can witness live the ‘magic’ of Nicol David winning game after game to retain her World Number #1 for quite some time now.

Last year I attended the Malaysian Open and I blogged about it here. It wasn’t a great experience last year as I could not get good seats despite arriving early to The Curve. I wasn’t that excited to attend this year’s competition and was actually thinking of just watching it live on TV. However it all changed when Lorraine Siew gave me good news few days before the tournament. Her exact words were “We are getting a media pass for you and we are having dinner with (Dato’) Nicol herself after the game”. That’s one of the best news I had for quite some time

Thanks to Elaine of SquashStars.com and of course Lorraine Siew (my right hand person in running Nicol David Online for the last few years), I was treated to a wonderful weekend@ The Curve. In case you do not know, SquashStars.com is founded by Nicol David herself to champion the game that she loves. The website is currently represented in Malaysia, Mexico, Netherlands, New Zealand, USA, Ireland, Canada, Italy and Denmark by a group of professional women Squash players. On the other hand, Nicol David Online is the ‘fan-page’ of Nicol David that I started in 1998 nd after 10-years is still running strong in the cyber-world.

Pictures do tell a thousand words, so enjoy these photos of my great squash weekend!

1) The crowd. As always it’s full-house crowd. Sometimes I question myself, is it really necessary to have the finals in a shopping mall? Publicity, yes. Capacity, no! I had more comfortable time as a spectator during KL Open 2009 at NSC.

2) My pass courtesy of SquashStars.com. Thank you! Note that I was the only ‘media/press guy’ with a small/basic DSLR. I learned something. You need a good professional DSLR camera/lens to cover fast sports actions like Squash but you need even a more superb high end camera/lens to cover Nicol David in action!

3) Some of the crowd.

4) The Cheerleaders

5) The famous #1 Malaysian Sports Fan with his team of loyal Malaysian Supporters, FAMEMAS!

6) I had to squeeze at the back of the court to get into a tiny window for photo opportunities. There were at least 10 other photographers/videographers and they are all seasoned experts, so it wasn;t easy to get a good shot.

7) Nicol in action on the 2nd set

Scoreboard

9) Nicol won the first 2 set but it wasn’t an easy cruise as Alison Waters of England played a good game not only in the finals but throughout the Malaysian Open tournament.

10) Nicol lost the third set.

11) The game gets more interesting in the fourth set.

12) But Nicol bounced back with some great shots

13) and wrapped the game in 4-sets. Another title for Nicol. The fifth Malaysian Open title in a row.

14) Nicol giving her victory speech!

15) Malaysia Boleh!

17) She was surrounded by her fans while waiting for the awards ceremony. Nicol being Nicol handles her fans in a very polite and friendly manner.

18) Nicol during the award presentation. A heavy trophy on one hand and a bulky bouquet of flowers on the other. Good balance indeed!

19) The women champion and 1st runner-up. Congratulations

20) Nicol showing her excellent PR-skills!

21) Congratulations Nicol! This particular photo was taken with me one-on-one as the other photographers were already leaving.

22) I didn’t get the opportunity to have a photo taken with Nicol after the game but I did get to catch this guy, the famous Malaysian supporter!

23) A couple of hours after the game, I had the opportunity to wind-down and have dinner with Nicol and friends at TGI-Fridays. I felt bad that she took the bill and paid off dinner but she did just win USD8550, hehehe….One for the album. Last time I took photo with Nicol was during the KL98 Commonwealth games. 11-years down the road; she’s still the same great down-to-earth person. The only different now is she’s a world champion!

I had fun with my camera throughout the game. I had fun watching Nicol winning. I had fun meeting Nicol and her friends for dinner after the game. It is indeed a memorable and fun evening! I look forward for the next tournament and wish Nicol all her best for her next tourney in Singapore!

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The Squash events, which will be held in the Chung Cheng Martial Arts Stadium in Kaohsiung from 21-24 July, have attracted world-class fields - led by Malaysia’s world number one Nicol David, the top seed in the women’s event, and Great Britain’s world No5 Nick Matthew

The 2009 Kaohsiung World Games

Over 4,000 athletes, competing in more than 30 sports, will take part in the 2009 Kaohsiung World Games, the eighth edition of the multi-sport event featuring sports not currently on the programme of the Olympic Games.

Squash made its debut in the 1997 World Games in Lahti, Finland. Britain’s former world number one Peter Nicol won the men’s gold medal in the last event in 2005 in Duisburg, Germany, while Nicol David will have the opportunity to become the first player to successfully defend a World Games squash title after winning the women’s trophy four years ago.

Nicol David, who celebrates her third complete year as world number one this month, will be competing in Kaohsiung in her first championship since taking part in Squash’s presentation to the IOC in the sport’s bid to join the programme for the 2016 Olympic Games.

Read the Full Article here.

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The Champ

David claimed her third World Open title last October and won her latest WISPA world tour title at the Seoul Open last month in South Korea. The victory marked the 37th title of her career.

Over the last four years David has made walking off last on court her own, with a winning ratio of nearly 80 per cent. Last year she also cleaned up on the WISPA tour, winning all 10 tournaments.

Elsewhere in the rankings, American Natalie Grainger retains second place while Dutch No 1 Natalie Grinham rises to third, overtaking her older sister Rachael Grinham, who represents Australia.

England’s Jenny Duncalf was rewarded for her recent good form by overtaking compatriot Alison Waters to reclaim fifth place in the new list. The 26-year-old from Harrogate reached the biggest final of her career at the Seoul Open last month.

Meanwhile, England’s Sarah Kippax has risen to a career-high world No 23 after celebrating an unexpected semi-final berth in last month’s Alexandria Sporting Club Open in Egypt.

Read the Full Article here.

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_________

The World Squash Day 2009 is a concerted effort by nine countries including Malaysia to raise the profile of squash worldwide to ensure the inclusion of the sport in the Olympics. In Malaysia World Squash Day was celebrated in various cities and squash centers nationwide indicating total support of Malaysians towards having Squash to be included in 2016 Olympiq games.

Being a fan of squash and the webmaster for Nicol David Online for the last 10-years, I was gratefully invited by the organizers to attend the World Squash Day celebration in Penang, the origin of the World Champion, Datuk Nicol David!

I have to begin by thanking SquashStars.com for co-organizing the event and extending the invitation to me.

Thank you

Squash Racquets Association of Penang (SRAP), in collaboration with Squash Stars was glad to play host to the day long carnival filled with attractive activities and games for all ages in order to raise funds for the Squash for 2016 fund, set up by the World Squash Federation (WSF) for the International Olympic Council Bid Committee.

I was one of 500 squash fans mainly ‘Penangites’ enthusiastically celebrated World Squash Day at the Penang International Squash Centre, Bukit Dumbar to show support in efforts to make Squash part of the 2016 Olympic Games.

For the first time in 10-years of running Nicol David Online, I was invited as a media. I am very thankful for the hospitality of the host and I hope that the photos I’ve uploaded met their expectations.

While setting up my camera gears and going through the event schedule, I saw something that attracts my immediate attention. “I have to win this” was my reaction when I saw this:

An exclusive squash ball signed by none other than World-Num-1, Nicol David!

Despite not being able to make the trip home due to training commitment, Nicol David was virtually all over the venue and in the mind of the squash enthusiasts especially kids in Penang. You can feel the “Nicol David Aura” with 10 out of 10 kids that interviewed wanting to be just like Nicol!

Overall, the event was a huge success. It was a fun full-day carnival for everyone from parents, players and little fans of squash. Some of the activities include:

‘Challenge the Pros’saw actions from Low Wee Wern, British Junior Open Champion 2009 alongside, Kosuke Moukawa and Misaki Kobayashi—Japanese players who are currently training in Penang. Also there showing their support and talent were Aaron Soyza, Khoo Teng Hin against the event emcee, Non (Aanont Wathanasin)

‘Treasure Hunt’ for the kids

And other unique games, such as:

“Pot-a-Shot”

“Throw-and-Catch”

“Aim-the-Target”

And a very fun ‘face-painting’ activity.

But the highlight of the event was the Nicol David Auction; an effort to raise funds for Squash for 2016 by auctioning memorabilia once belonged to Nicol David.

(No, the lovely girl was not for auction)

Through exclusive memorabilia such as outfits and racquets used by Nicol in her first British Open win in 2005, a convincing fund of RM10,000 were successfully collected only from Penang’s event! Among the big winners are Datuk Lim Tiong Chin and his friend Thomas who will be sharing a 45-minute squash session and lunch date with Nicol for RM2,400 and Non who went home with Nicol’s Malaysian Open Top.

YB Puan Ong Kok Fooi, the State Exco for Youth and Sports, Women, Family and Community Development was the honorable guest for the day.

But the biggest VIP in Bukit Dumbar Squash Centre will always be Nicol David. Even when she’s thousands of miles away, her ‘virtual speech’ made many of the kids inspired.

Go Squash for 2016!

My signature is somewhere there. Thank you SquashStars for having me for this great event!

p/s: The event was captured in various newspapers and TV news including The Star Metro section that accidentally include my face in their news photo Since I was too busy covering the event, I don’t have a single photo of myself at the event so it’s great to see this photo

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Launched in October 1996, the sport’s international media service has chronicled countless championships from the flourishing PSA and WISPA World Tours across all five continents; it has highlighted day-to-day news of more than 600 players competing full-time on the men’s and women’s Tours; has covered numerous WSF world championships across all age-ranges, in addition to the sport’s presence in all but one of the major multi-sports Games around the world; and has nurtured the sport’s long-time bid to join the Olympic Games programme.

The 5,000 reports over the past twelve and a half years highlight the fact that the sport - which boasts some 20 million players worldwide - has generated an average of more than one international news story each day over the period.

“It was an inspired initiative back in 1996 that brought the three key international bodies in Squash together to coordinate this vital news service – one which has ensured that the world’s media have been able to rely on a steady diet of newsworthy material from the sport,” said WSF Vice President Frank van Loon.

For the full article: Wispa

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Nicol, who has reigned uninterrupted at the top of the rankings for the last 34 months, will return to action next week at the Cayman Islands Open in Grand Cayman for the first time since her season opener at the Kuala Lumpur Open in March.

The following week she is off to Dallas for the Texas Open and will also defend her Seoul Open title on June 3-7 for which entries closed on Friday.

Nicol’s task in Seoul has been made easier in the absence of World No 2 Natalie Grainger of the United States and two other top-10 ranked players.

Also in the fray in the South Korean capital are the Grinham sisters Rachael (ranked 3rd) and Natalie (4th), England’s Jenny Duncalf (5th) and Alison Waters (6th), Ireland’s Madeline Perry (9th) and New Zealand’s Shelley Kitchen (10th).

Full article: NST

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Framed promotional tour certificates from all four corners of the globe ensue: Kingston, Nepal, Salvador, Rio and Estonia to name but a few. Lucky then we’re talking about mobile phones – a must for all executives these days. But Shelley works just fine without one, just don’t keep reminding his colleagues on the women’s tour board.

Contrary to reports, the WISPA tour is in rude health and tournaments are still in place for 2010.“The world has changed since we started [putting together tour calendar] but it is taking longer to develop,” Shelley says. “We are always working on new events.”

It’s not just WISPA tour events that Shelley is trying to widen. Every year, the women players’ association takes two top professionals on a global tour to raise the profile of the sport.

But is there a fear of WISPA’s many tour events going off the radar in the current economic downturn? “I was worried about this year but there has been no fall-out,” admits Shelley.

However, Cathay Pacific have renewed their sponsorship while Malaysia’s CIMB Bank, the country’s second largest lender, is firmly behind the game, mainly garnered by the continuing success of David, who is revered as the David Beckham of squash.

“Our shortcomings are really off the court where we need a tour partner and a TV sponsor. Our issue here is that we also want the girls to make a living. The tour was worth $1.5 million last year and when you share that round, it is clearly not enough.”

The Olympics question remains but hopes loom large that sponsors will soon find the appeal of top sportswomen playing in a 360 degree glass court stationed anywhere they please. Exposure is everything.

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“I like what he says. No. 1, he says let’s establish a sports culture, No. 2, we need that elusive Olympic gold medal and we are going to go for it and No. 3, sports has become a business and an industry whereby there’s greater opportunities for players, coaches and people generally to earn money and make a living.

He pointed out that

1) 90 per cent of schoolchildren were playing sports just for essentially health and exercise reasons and only 10 per cent could be expected to advance to do elite sports.

6) Parents play an important role in discovering sports talents.

“I’m sure parents would only be too happy to drive their kids to school or to another school if it’s an away match…they’ll stay with the kids. I think we never bring in the parents enough into this.

“In America and Australia the parents are the ones that almost become the driver, the referee, the coach and everything.

“If you look at every single champion that we have produced, the parental influence is huge. Nicol David (squash) , the Sidek brothers (badminton). They have to start somewhere, and in squash which is a good example, you can produce a world champion without or in spite of the school system,” he said.

Describing Nicol, the reigning world squash champion, as a classic example, Tunku Imran, himself a former national squash champion, said she as well as fellow players Ong Beng Hee and Azlan Iskandar did not learn squash in school.

For the full article: Bernama

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Olympic Council of Malaysia (OCM) president Tunku Imran ibni Almarhum Tuanku Ja’afar said OCM and Astro, the pay TV operator, were finalising the details of the channel which would cover domestic sports as well as regional and international sports in which Malaysians are participating.

Tunku Imran said a tv sports channel was the “missing link” in the country’s efforts to develop sports to higher levels.

He cited the example of the popularity of squash in Malaysia.

“Why is now squash is so popular? Because everyone is basing themselves on Nicol David,” he said of Malaysia’s world No. 1 squash player.

“The girls want to play squash because they want to be Nicol David, so I think role models are important and television is crucial to that,” he said.

Tunku Imran said he first approached Datuk Ahmad Shabery Cheek when the latter was still Information Minister about establishing the sports channel via RTM.

But this could not be done as RTM’s channels were not yet digitalised but it could be done easily with Astro. Shabery is now Youth and Sports Minister.

He said as an example, the sports channel might not necessarily cover only the Malaysian Squash Open but the Spanish Squash Open because Malaysian players are participating.

This would also mean coverage of sports like badminton, hockey, sepak takraw and others.

For the full article:Bernama

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