Datuk Datuk (or its variant Dato or Datu) is a Malay language, Malay honorific title commonly used in Brunei, Indonesia, and Malaysia, as well as a traditional title by Minangkabau people in West Sumatra, Indonesia. Use of the title various between loc ...

Nicol Ann David (born August 26, 1983) is a

Malaysia Malaysia is a country in Southeast Asia. Featuring the Tanjung Piai, southernmost point of continental Eurasia, it is a federation, federal constitutional monarchy consisting of States and federal territories of Malaysia, 13 states and thre ...

n retired professional squash player. She was the world number one for a record-breaking 108 consecutive months, ceding the ranking in September 2015 to Raneem El Weleily. She has won the World Open title a record 8 times in

2005 2005 was designated as the International Year for Sport and Physical Education and the International Year of Microcredit. The beginning of 2005 also marked the end of the International Decade of the World's Indigenous Peoples, Internationa ...

2006 2006 was designated as the International Year of Deserts and Desertification. Events January * January 1– 4 – Russia temporarily cuts shipment of natural gas to Ukraine during a price dispute. * January 12 – A stampede during t ...

2008 2008 was designated as: *International Year of Languages *International Year of Planet Earth *International Year of the Potato *International Year of Sanitation The Great Recession, a worldwide recession which began in 2007, continued throu ...

2009 2009 was designated as the International Year of Astronomy by the United Nations to coincide with the 400th anniversary of Galileo Galilei's first known astronomical studies with a telescope and the publication of Astronomia Nova by Joha ...

2010 The year saw a multitude of natural and environmental disasters such as the 2010 Haiti earthquake, the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, and the 2010 Chile earthquake. The 2009 swine flu pandemic, swine flu pandemic which began the previous year ...

2011 The year marked the start of a Arab Spring, series of protests and revolutions throughout the Arab world advocating for democracy, reform, and economic recovery, later leading to the depositions of world leaders in Tunisia, Egypt, and Yemen ...

2012 2012 was designated as: *International Year of Cooperatives *International Year of Sustainable Energy for All Events January *January 4 – The Cicada 3301 internet hunt begins. * January 12 – Peaceful protests begin in the R ...

and

2014 The year 2014 was marked by the surge of the Western African Ebola epidemic, West African Ebola epidemic, which began in 2013, becoming the List of Ebola outbreaks, most widespread outbreak of the Ebola, Ebola virus in human history, resul ...

, as well as the British Open title in 2005, 2006, 2008,

and

. In July 2016, she reached her 151st successive month in the top 10, breaking the record in both men's and women's category. She surpassed

Peter Nicol Peter Nicol (born 5 April 1973) is a former professional squash player from Scotland, who represented first Scotland and then England in international squash. In 1998, while still competing for Scotland, he became the first player from the UK ...

's records of 150 months. David is the first squash player to have won the World Junior title twice; in 1999 and 2001 under Richard Glanfield. She remained the only female squash player to have achieved this until Raneem El Weleily won her second World Junior Championship in 2007. David joined

WISPA Wispa is a brand of chocolate bar manufactured by British chocolate company Cadbury. Using aerated chocolate, the bar was launched in 1981 as a trial version in North East England, and with its success it was introduced nationally in 1983. I ...

and turned professional in 2000 when she won her first WISPA title, after only a month on the tour. The victory came in February, when she defeated Salma Shabana in the final of the Savcor Finnish Open. On 7 June 2008, David was honoured with the Order of Merit in conjunction with the birthday of the His Majesty Tuanku Mizan Zainal Abidin. She was the first recipient of the award which was established on 26 June 1975. David was also invited to carry the

Olympic torch The Olympic flame is a Olympic symbols, symbol used in the Olympic movement. It is also a symbol of continuity between ancient and modern games. The Olympic flame is lit at Olympia, Greece, several months before the Olympic Games. This ceremony s ...

for Malaysia during the build up to the Athens Olympics in 2004 and appointed as

UNDP The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) is a United Nations agency tasked with helping countries eliminate poverty and achieve sustainable economic growth and human development. The UNDP emphasizes on developing local capacity towar ...

National Goodwill Ambassador for Malaysia. Considered by some the greatest women's squash player, David's other notable achievements include the Asian Squash Championship, which she won a record nine times (in 1998, 2000, 2002, 2004, 2006, 2008, 2010,

and

2015 2015 was designated by the United Nations as: * International Year of Light * International Year of Soil __TOC__ Events January * January 1 – Lithuania officially adopts the euro as its currency, replacing the litas, and becomes ...

). She also held a 13-month, 51-match winning streak, from March 2006 until April 2007, when she finally lost to Natalie Grinham in the final of the 2007 Seoul Open. David has also obtained the WSA Player of the Year on seven occasions, 2005–2010 and 2012. In a poll conducted in 2018 by the

Professional Squash Association The Professional Squash Association, or simply the PSA, is the governing body for the men's and women's professional Squash (sport), squash circuit. The body operates in a similar fashion to the Association of Tennis Professionals, ATP and the ...

, David was voted by fans as the greatest squash player of all time in the women's category. In February 2019, Nicol announced her retirement plan, and decided to retire at the end of the 2018/2019 PSA season in June. In another poll conducted by the World Games in 2021, David was crowned as the World Games Greatest Athlete of All Time with receiving a total of 318,943 votes and being the only Malaysian and Asian athlete among 24 candidates.

Personal life

Born in Penang, David is the daughter of Ann Marie David, a retired

Malaysian Chinese Malaysian Chinese, Chinese Malaysians, or Sino-Malaysians are Malaysians, Malaysian citizens of Chinese people, Chinese ethnicity. They form the second-largest ethnic group in Malaysia, after the Malaysian Malays, Malay majority, and , const ...

school teacher of

Hokkien Hokkien ( , ) is a Varieties of Chinese, variety of the Southern Min group of Chinese language, Chinese languages. Native to and originating from the Minnan region in the southeastern part of Fujian in southeastern China, it is also referred ...

Hakka The Hakka (), sometimes also referred to as Hakka-speaking Chinese, or Hakka Chinese, or Hakkas, are a southern Han Chinese subgroup whose principal settlements and ancestral homes are dispersed widely across the provinces of southern China ...

descent and Desmond David, a

Malaysian Indian Indo-Malaysians are Malaysian of South Asian ancestry. Most are descendants of those who migrated from India to British Malaya from the mid-19th to the mid-20th centuries. Most Malaysian Indians are ethnic Tamils; smaller groups include the ...

engineer of Tamil descent, who is also a former state athlete and footballer. She has two sisters, Lianne and Cheryl, both of whom are accomplished squash players at the national level. As a youngster, mathematics was David's best subject at school; she dreamed of one day becoming an engineer. Her primary education was at Sekolah Kebangsaan Convent Green Lane (Convent Green Lane Primary School). David scored seven As in her

Penilaian Menengah Rendah Penilaian Menengah Rendah (commonly abbreviated as PMR; Malay for ''Lower Secondary Assessment'') was a Malaysian public examination targeting Malaysian adolescents and young adults between the ages of 13 and 30 years taken by all Form Three ...

(PMR) and seven As in her Sijil Pelajaran Malaysia (SPM); the equivalent to

GCSE The General Certificate of Secondary Education (GCSE) is an academic qualification in a range of subjects taken in England, Wales, and Northern Ireland, having been introduced in September 1986 and its first exams taken in 1988. State schools ...

, which she studied at Convent Green Lane Secondary School in Green Lane, Penang. She was raised a

Roman Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics worldwide as of 2025. It is among the world's oldest and largest international institut ...

Squash career

Pre–2000: Junior years

David played squash when she was five years old, and received coaching at the age of eight. While training at the Bukit Dumbar Squash Centre, David was talent spotted by Ee Phoeh Hoon, who led her to represent her home state of

Penang Penang is a Malaysian state located on the northwest coast of Peninsular Malaysia along the Strait of Malacca. It has two parts: Penang Island, where the capital city, George Town, is located, and Seberang Perai on the Malay Peninsula. Th ...

, along with her sisters. David's squash career began in 1992 when she won silver in the Under-14 category of the Penang State Junior Championship. Her first national level victory was also in 1992 at the Milo- Dunlop Sport National Junior Interstate Championship, where she won silver in the Under-16 category. In 1994, David was chosen to join the Penang state squash team for the Malaysian Games (SUKMA) tournament where she helped Penang win a gold medal in the team event, despite being ill at the time. In the same year, she won her first two international titles – the Hong Kong U-13 and the Scottish Junior Open Under-12. David won the Women's World Junior Squash Championships of 1999 beating her compatriot Lynn Leong in the final in

Antwerp Antwerp (; ; ) is a City status in Belgium, city and a Municipalities of Belgium, municipality in the Flemish Region of Belgium. It is the capital and largest city of Antwerp Province, and the third-largest city in Belgium by area at , after ...

, Belgium, 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; her coach was Richard Glanfield. In 1999, David began to win major junior tournaments, including the British Junior Open (Under-17 champion), the German Junior Open (Under-19, Champion), the SEA Games (Champion in the Senior and Team categories), and the Asian Junior Champion for both individual and team events. David's biggest win, however, was the World Junior Championships, played in Antwerp. It took just half an hour for the then 15-year-old Malaysian schoolgirl to obtain world junior champion status, beating Lynn Leong 9–5, 9–3 and 9–2 in the final to become the youngest ever winner of the title. David reached the quarterfinals of the previous World Junior Championships in August 1997 in Brazil, as a thirteen-year-old and had since claimed both the Asian junior and senior titles, as well as the gold medal in the

Asian Games The Asian Games, also known as Asiad, is a continental multi-sport event held every four years for athletes of Asia. The Games were regulated by Asian Games Federation from the 1951 Asian Games, first Games in New Delhi, India in 1951, until ...

in December 1998. David also is one of a few squash player to have won all the age categories in the British Junior Open.

2000–2004: Early professional career

David joined

and turned professional in 2000 when she won her first WISPA title, after only a month in the tour. The victory came in February, when she defeated Salma Shabana in the final of the Savcor Finnish Open with a score of 9–1, 9–0 and 9–5. Within a month
Hotel Equatorial
announced its two-year worldwide sponsorship for her. David also won a sponsorship on the WISPA tour by Dunlop squash. In 2001, David, who has played under Dunlop Sport sponsorship for most of her junior career and WISPA career, signed a two-year deal to play with

Head A head is the part of an organism which usually includes the ears, brain, forehead, cheeks, chin, eyes, nose, and mouth, each of which aid in various sensory functions such as sight, hearing, smell, and taste. Some very simple ani ...

rackets with local conglomerate Mulpha Sports. In July, David won the World Junior title for a second time, beating Omneya Abdel Kawy in just 17 minutes with a score of 9–2, 9–4 and 9–2 in the final. She remained the only female squash player to have achieved this until 2007, when Raneem El Weleily won her second World Junior Championship. David also won the individual event in the Asian Junior Squash Championships by defeating her compatriot Tricia Chuah in the final with a score of 9–5, 9–6 and 9–0; and helped the Malaysian team to the team event title. In 2002 David, together with her mixed double event partner Ong Beng Hee, won a

Commonwealth Games The Commonwealth Games is a quadrennial international multi-sport event among athletes from the Commonwealth of Nations, which consists mostly, but not exclusively, of territories of the former British Empire. The event was first held in 1930 ...

silver medal for

after losing to Glen Wilson and Leilani Rorani in the final. Earlier in the year, David defeated Ellen Petersen of Denmark with a score of 9–2, 9–7, 8–10, 9–4 to win the second Kuala Lumpur Open title of her career. David failed to retain her

gold medal in 2002, when she was beaten 9–7, 9–5 and 9–7 by Rebecca Chiu of Hong Kong in the final in

Busan Busan (), officially Busan Metropolitan City, is South Korea's second list of cities in South Korea by population, most populous city after Seoul, with a population of over 3.3 million as of 2024. Formerly romanized as Pusan, it is the economi ...

, South Korea. David was the losing finalist twice in 2003, losing to the more experienced Cassie Jackman on her home ground and then to Linda Elriani in the Monte Carlo Classic in November. She reached the semi-final of the World Open in Hong Kong, where she was again beaten by Jackman with a score of 9–6, 9–3, 9–4. David did not perform well in the other major WISPA events; she was eliminated in the first round of the Carol Weymuller US Open, in the British Open and in the Texas Open. In the Qatar Classic Open, David lost in the second round to Natalie Grinham with a score of 9–2, 7–9, 9–0 and 9–4. In 2004 David again failed to win any title. Her achievements included getting into the final of both the Kuala Lumpur Open and the Malaysian Open. David started to progress in the very last month of the year by reaching the final of the Shanghai WISPA WorldStars Championship and the semi-finals of the World Open, to rise two places to number four in the January 2005 WISPA rankings.

2005–2006: World champion and rise to the top

Defeated only twice in 2005, the 21-year-old from Penang returned to her home country in July after winning the gold medal at the World Games in Germany. she then became the first local player to win the Women's CIMB

n Open Squash Championship title in the event's 31-year history. In October, David proved that her success in the World Games and in the Malaysian Open was not by chance by becoming the first Malaysian to win a British Open title, the first Asian to win the women's crown, when she beat Australia's Natalie Grinham in the women's final in straight games that lasted in 55 minutes. Within two months after the British Open and the World Games win, David won the World Open in Hong Kong for the first time and world number one ranking for the first time in January 2006. Later in the year, she was voted by her fellow members of the

Women's International Squash Players Association The Women's International Squash Players Association (WISPA) was the governing body for the women's professional squash circuit between 1983 and 2011. The WISPA World Tour involved over 80 tournaments annually worldwide. Over 200 players were re ...

as the WISPA Player of The Year 2005. David became the World's number 1 female squash player in January 2006 at the age of 23 to become the first Malaysian and the first Asian woman to be ranked World number 1 in the sport. She also became the twelfth holder of the position since the rankings were first produced in April 1983. David started the year on a low, losing twice to Vanessa Atkinson in February, in the Apawamis Open and in the Kuala Lumpur Open, both in the final. The two straight loses to Atkinson saw David's world rank dropped to number 2. David started to show progress later in the year and recovered from the setback to win six straight tour titles and reclaimed the World number 1 spot. David successfully defended her World Open title on 25 November 2006, at the

Ulster Hall The Ulster Hall is a concert hall and grade A listed building in Belfast, Northern Ireland. Situated at 34 Bedford Street in Belfast city centre, the hall hosts concerts, European classical music, classical Concert#Recital, recitals, craft fai ...

Belfast Belfast (, , , ; from ) is the capital city and principal port of Northern Ireland, standing on the banks of the River Lagan and connected to the open sea through Belfast Lough and the North Channel (Great Britain and Ireland), North Channel ...

by defeating Natalie Grinham in the final that was said to be "one of the great finals of the Women’s World Open". She became the first Malaysian athlete to win a world championship title for the second consecutive time, and the fourth person in history to retain the World Open Squash Championship. David also captured the Qatar Airways Challenge Open, the Dunlop British Open Championship, the Hong Kong Open, the Penang Open and the CIMB Malaysian Open. David topped the December WISPA ranking with a points average of almost twice that of her nearest rival, Rachael Grinham, and in the same month, in the second annual WISPA Awards, she was voted best female player of the year for the second time.

2007–2008: Winning streak and dominance

David captured another six titles in the early months of 2007, then lost the final of the British Open to Australian Rachael Grinham in a five set final lasting 87 minutes. A month later, David again failed to defend her World Open title when she stumbled in the second round, losing to Shelley Kitchen with a score of 0–9, 1–9, 9–2, 9–3 and 6–9 in 69 minutes. It was the first time since April 2004 that David did not qualify for the quarters of a tournament, losing to the same person who denied her the bronze medal of the

in Melbourne 9 months previously. In December, David won the inaugural Asian Sportswoman of the Year, beating more than 100 competitors who represented 25 sporting bodies. In 2008, David won ten tour titles and was unbeaten. David completed her most successful year to date, retaining her Cathay Pacific Hong Kong Open title for the third successive year in November to bring her 2008 WISPA World Tour title total to ten, extending her unbeaten Tour record since October 2007 to 53 matches. David celebrated her second full calendar year as world number one in the December Women's World Squash Rankings thus bringing her reign at the top of women's squash to 30 straight months. David's WISPA title successes in 2008 began with the Apawamis Open in New York in February, and continued with the KL Open on home soil in Malaysia, the British Open title in England, Seoul Open in

South Korea South Korea, officially the Republic of Korea (ROK), is a country in East Asia. It constitutes the southern half of the Korea, Korean Peninsula and borders North Korea along the Korean Demilitarized Zone, with the Yellow Sea to the west and t ...

, Malaysian Open, the

Singapore Singapore, officially the Republic of Singapore, is an island country and city-state in Southeast Asia. The country's territory comprises one main island, 63 satellite islands and islets, and one outlying islet. It is about one degree ...

Masters, Dutch Open, World Open in England, Qatar Classic and the Hong Kong Open. Away from the tour, David secured her sixth successive biennial Asian Championship crown in February, after winning the first in July 1998 when aged just 14, and then lead Malaysia to the bronze medal in the Women's World Team Championship in

Cairo Cairo ( ; , ) is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Egypt and the Cairo Governorate, being home to more than 10 million people. It is also part of the List of urban agglomerations in Africa, largest urban agglomeration in Africa, L ...

2009–present: Achieving records

With a lead over her nearest rival, she led in the Women's World Squash Rankings published on 1 January 2009 by the Women's International Squash Players' Association (WISPA) – thus moving into her 30th successive month as the world's number one female player. David headed an unchanged top four, with Natalie Grinham (Netherlands) at No. 2; her older sister Rachael Grinham (Australia) at No. 3; and Natalie Grainger, of the United States, at No. 4. In her first tournament of the year, the Kuala Lumpur Open, David's 17-month, 56-match winning run was brought to an end when she lost to Natalie Grainger in the final. After the defeat, David recovered to capture the inaugural Cayman Islands Open. She managed to avenge her loss to Grainger early in the year by beating her 11–8, 11–6 and 11–5 in the final. It is her 35th tour crown and her 50th appearance in a WISPA Tour final. A week later, David went on to win her second title of the year by again dispatching Grainger, this time in four sets. Twenty-one days after winning the Texas Open title, David captured her second Seoul City Open crown by defeating Jenny Duncalf in four sets. A month later, on 24 July, she retained her

World Games The World Games are an international multi-sport event comprising sports and sporting disciplines that are not contested in the Olympic Games. They are usually held every four years, one year after a Summer Olympic Games, over the course of 11 d ...

women's singles title with a win over archrival Natalie Grinham of the Netherlands in straight sets. A week later, on 1 August, David picked up her fifth consecutive Malaysian Open title, winning 11–6, 11–8, 9–11, 11–7 in a 60-minute match against 25-year-old Londoner,

Alison Waters Alison Claire Waters (born 19 March 1984) is an English former professional squash player. She reached a career high ranking of 3 in the world during October 2010. Biography As a junior player, Waters won her first major squash tournament ...

. David thus became the first player to win five Malaysian Open titles in a row since its inception in 1975. Dominating on the squash courts, David beat Natalie Grinham to win her third consecutive Singapore Masters championship, and her third title within a month. She overcame Natalie in three sets with a score of 11–9, 11–8 and 11–9 for her fifth WISPA title of the year. David celebrated another milestone in her squash career by moving into her 41st month as world number one in the September Women's World Rankings thus surpassing her mentor Sarah Fitz-Gerald as the player with the third longest ever reign at the top of the women's rankings. On 12 September, David lost to

Madeline Perry Madeline Perry (born 11 February 1977 in Banbridge, Northern Ireland) is a former professional squash player from Northern Ireland. She was raised in Northern Ireland and lives in Philadelphia. In November 2006 at the World Open in Belfast ...

in the British Open quarter-final in a five set match that lasted for 76 minutes; 15 days later, she recovered to defeat arch-rival Natalie Grinham in the final of the World Open Championship, obtaining the title for a record fourth time. David ended the year on a low when she lost in the semis to Jenny Duncalf in both the Qatar Classic and the US Open, the former ending in five sets. David started 2010 ranked number 1 for the 42nd consecutive month. She appeared in the

calendar for the month of January. David competed in her first tournament in March, the US$53,000 Chennai Open; she won all her matches in straight sets and was crowned as the champion, avenging two straight defeats to Jenny Duncalf in late 2009. Thirteen days later, in the Kuala Lumpur Open, David defeated the fourth seeded Egyptian Omneya Abdel Kawy who upset second seed Jenny Duncalf in the semi-finals in straight sets to win her second successive WISPA title of the year. It was David's sixth title in the Kuala Lumpur Open tournament as she had previously won it in 2000, 2002, 2005, 2007 and 2008. David had won five more tour titles since April. This include winning the "prestigious" World Open title on 22 September. The World Open win was David fifth thus equalling Sarah Fitz-Gerald's record for the most times World Open win. In October, in the women's singles final of the

2010 Commonwealth Games The 2010 Commonwealth Games, officially known as the XIX Commonwealth Games and commonly known as Delhi 2010, were an international multi-sport event for the members of the Commonwealth that was held in Delhi, India, from 3 to 14 October 201 ...

Delhi Delhi, officially the National Capital Territory (NCT) of Delhi, is a city and a union territory of India containing New Delhi, the capital of India. Straddling the Yamuna river, but spread chiefly to the west, or beyond its Bank (geography ...

, David defeated Jenny Duncalf 11–3, 11–5, 11–7 in 40 minutes to win the gold medal. David did not drop a game in the entire tournament, just as she did in the 2010 World Open in Egypt. Nicol David added another feather to her cap, becoming the first player – male or female – to win the US Open for the third straight year. The 31-year-old Nicol, a seven-time world champion and five-time British Open winner, exacted sweet revenge over Egyptian teenager Nour El Sherbini to win the US$115,000 (RM479,320) tournament in Philadelphia.

Rivalry between David and Natalie Grinham

David and Natalie Grinham have a long rivalry history. As of March 2012, they have met 36 times, with David leading their overall head-to-head series 29–7. Grinham is David's most frequent opponent on tour and 16 of their matches have been in tournament finals, including two in the World Open tournament. The World Open 2006 final between David and Grinham was said to be "one of the great finals of the Women’s World Open". The longest match between the duo is in the 2007 CIMB Kuala Lumpur Open; which saw David went on to win in a five set match that lasted in 102 minutes. David won 6–9, 9–3, 9–6, 7–9, 9–6. On 27 September 2009 in the $118,000 2009 Women's World Open final, David won the match in four sets 3–11, 11–6, 11–3, 11–8 to become only the third player in the history of the championships to win four titles, alongside Australia's Sarah Fitz-Gerald and New Zealander

Susan Devoy Dame Susan Elizabeth Anne Devoy (born 4 January 1964) is a New Zealand former squash player and senior public servant. As a squash player, she was dominant in the late 1980s and early 1990s, winning the World Open on four occasions. She serve ...

Career statistics

WISPA titles (81)

All results for David in WISPA World Tour tournaments:

WISPA finals (runner-up) (21)

World Open

Finals: 8 (8 titles, 0 runner-up)

Source:

Major
World Series The World Series is the annual championship series of Major League Baseball (MLB). It has been contested since between the champion teams of the American League (AL) and the National League (NL). The winning team, determined through a best- ...
final appearances

British Open: 7 finals (5 titles, 2 runner-up)

Hong Kong Open: 10 finals (10 titles, 0 runner-up)

Qatar Classic: 5 finals (5 titles, 0 runner-up)

Malaysian Open: 11 finals (8 titles, 3 runner-up)

Other titles

1998 Asian Championship – Singles Champion (1), Asian Games – Singles Gold (1) 2000 Asian Championship – Singles Champion (2) 2002 Asian Championship – Singles Champion (3), Asian Championship – Team Champion (1), Asian Games – Singles Silver, Commonwealth Games – Mixed Doubles Silver 2004 Asian Championship – Singles Champion (4), Asian Championship – Team Champion (2) 2005 World Games – Singles Champion (1) 2006 Asian Championship – Singles Champion (5), Asian Championship – Team Champion (3), Asian Games – Singles Gold (2) 2008 Asian Championship – Singles Champion (6), Asian Championship – Team Champion (4) 2009 World Games – Singles Champion (2) 2010 Asian Championship – Singles Champion (7), Asian Games – Singles Gold (3), Asian Games – Team Gold (1), Commonwealth Games – Singles Gold (1), Commonwealth Games – Mixed Doubles Bronze 2011 Asian Championship – Singles Champion (8) 2013 World Games – Singles Champion (3) 2014 Asian Championship – Team Champion (5), Asian Games – Singles Gold (4), Asian Games – Team Gold (2), Commonwealth Games – Singles Gold (2) 2015 Asian Championship – Singles Champion (9) 2018 Asian Games – Singles Gold (5)

Junior titles

1995 Scottish Junior Open – Under-14 Champion 1996 British Junior Open – Under-14 Champion, Scottish Junior Open – Under-14 Champion 1997 British Junior Open – Under-14 Champion, Scottish Junior Open – Under-16 Champion, Australian Junior Open – Under-15 Champion, Australian Junior Open – Under-17 Champion 1998 British Junior Open – Under-16 Champion, Scottish Junior Open – Under-17 Champion, Asian Junior Squash Grand Circuit Final – Under-19 Champion 1999 World Junior Champion (1), British Junior Open – Under-17 Champion, British Junior Open – Under-19 Champion, Asian Junior Championship – Singles Champion (1), Asian Junior Championship – Team Champion (1), German Junior Open – Champion, Malaysian Junior Open – Champion 2001 World Junior Champion (2), Asian Junior Championship – Singles Champion (2), Asian Junior Championship – Team Champion (2)

Singles performance timeline

''To prevent confusion and double counting, information in this table is updated only once a tournament or the player's participation in the tournament has concluded.'' ''Note:'' NA = Not Available

Awards and recognition

On 7 June 2008, David was honoured with the Order of Merit (Darjah Bakti) or D.B. in conjunction with the birthday of His Majesty Tuanku Mizan Zainal Abidin. She was the first recipient of the award which was established on 26 June 1975. The award is limited to 10 recipients who have made significant contributions in the arts, sciences and the humanities. On 12 July 2008, David was among 497 people honoured in conjunction with the 70th birthday of the Penang

State Governor A governor is an administrative leader and head of a polity or political region, in some cases, such as governors-general, as the head of a state's official representative. Depending on the type of political region or polity, a ''governor'' ma ...

Tun Abdul Rahman Abbas. David was also one of the 28 people who received the Darjah Setia Pangkuan Negeri award (DSPN), which carries the title

, making her the youngest person ever to be conferred Datukship in Penang. The former Prime Minister of Malaysia Tun Abdullah Ahmad Badawi, a fellow

ite, once quipped that David is "now more famous than me". In July 2007, David received Master of Arts ''honoris causa''; an honorary degree by the

University of Nottingham The University of Nottingham is a public research university in Nottingham, England. It was founded as University College Nottingham in 1881, and was granted a royal charter in 1948. Nottingham's main campus (University Park Campus, Nottingh ...

. David has also obtained the WISPA Player of the Year on six consecutive occasions, from 2005 until 2010. David was given the honour of carrying the Olympic torch for Malaysia during the build up to the Athens Olympics of 2004, and was appointed

National Goodwill Ambassador for Malaysia. On 23 September 2019, David was conferred with an Honorary

Doctorate A doctorate (from Latin ''doctor'', meaning "teacher") or doctoral degree is a postgraduate academic degree awarded by universities and some other educational institutions, derived from the ancient formalism '' licentia docendi'' ("licence to teach ...

(Ph.D.) in

Sports Science Sports science is a discipline that studies how the healthy human body works during exercise, and how sports and physical activity promote health and performance from cellular to whole body perspectives. The study of sports science traditionally i ...

Universiti Sains Malaysia Universiti Sains Malaysia ( 'University of Science Malaysia'; abbreviated as USM) is a public research university in Malaysia. Founded on 1 June 1969 as a statutory body with its own constitution, it is the oldest institute of higher learning ...

(USM).

Honours

Honours of Malaysia

* : ** Member of the

Order of the Defender of the Realm The Most Esteemed Order of the Defender of the Realm () is a Malaysian federal award presented for meritorious service to the country. The Order Motto are 'Dipeliharakan Allah-Pangkuan Negara' (By the Grace of God-Defender of the Realm). The o ...

(AMN) (2000) ** Officer of the

(KMN) (2006) ** MY Darjah Bakti - Order of Merit of Malaysia - DB

Order of Merit The Order of Merit () is an order of merit for the Commonwealth realms, recognising distinguished service in the armed forces, science, art, literature, or the promotion of culture. Established in 1902 by Edward VII, admission into the order r ...

(DB) (2008) ** MY Darjah Jasa Negara - Order of Meritorious Service - PJN

Commander of the Order of Meritorious Service (PJN) – Datuk (2017) * : ** MY-PEN Order of the Defender of State - Officer - DSPN

Officer of the Order of the Defender of State (DSPN) – Dato' (2008)

In popular culture

The ACE Pictures has on 7 June 2021 announced a

biopic A biographical film or biopic () is a film that dramatizes the life of an actual person or group of people. Such films show the life of a historical person and the central character's real name is used. They differ from docudrama films and histo ...

in English based on David's life story titled ' I am Nicol David' will soon be produced.

Notes

* Natalie Grinham switched allegiance to the Netherlands from March 2008 onwards. * ''H'' represents hour while ''MM'' represents minutes. *

tournament uses PAR scoring from 21 July 2008 onwards.

References

External links