Drop In Ranking Has Lifted Pressure Off My Shoulder For World Games In Poland - Malaysia's Squash Queen

SERDANG (Selangor, Malaysia), July 13 (Bernama) -- Former world number one Nicol David feels the pressure has been lifted off her shoulder for the World Games in Poland after being seeded second although she is the defending champion. Nicol, winner of the World Games title three times before and currently ranked number two in the world, said she would now be able to concentrate fully on her game because going into every match as the top seed would simply add to the pressure. The Penangite who admitted that her performance had somewhat dropped of late however, remained positive and optimistic of rising to the occasion and pull off a surprise or two. “Apart from the World Games in Poland, I will also be taking part in the World Doubles Championships in Manchester, England next month, with Rachel Arnold as my partner. “Though I will be going to Poland as the second seed, I hope to stay on top of my game,” said Nicol at the launch of the Sports Leadership Transformation Programme with Dato Nicol David @ Universiti Putra Malaysia (UPM) and Sports Warrior Global programme, here Thursday. For the record, Nicol has won the World Games title three times before, namely in 2005 at Duisburg, Germany; 2009 in Kaohshiung, Taiwan and four years ago in Colombia. Nicol’s last competition – the World Series Finals – in Dubai last month was however, not a fruitful one since she lost all her three matches in the group stage and failed to advance further. She said the World Series and the World Games would be the best platform for her to prepare for the Professional Squash Association’s (PSA) World Tour which starts in September. The first stop in the PSA World Tour will be the China Open in Shanghai come September. -- BERNAMA