No longer the dominant force as ‘Queen’ Nicol David is bundled out of the Hong Kong Squash Open
- Former world No 1 loses her second-round match against unheralded Tomlinson
- Nicol has won the Hong Kong Squash Open a record 10 times but made her quickest exit
For a player who has dominated the Hong Kong Squash Open like no one before her, it was a little sad to watch Malaysia idol Nicol David go out at the first hurdle.
David is one of the most famous players to ever grace the annual showpiece. With 10 straight Hong Kong Open titles under her belt in an incredible reign that ended in 2015, the eight-time world champion was not expected to lose so early at the Everbright Sun Hung Kai Hong Kong Squash Open – not for the undisputed queen of Hong Kong. But it seemed time waits for nobody.
David tried her best, but the 35-year-old couldn’t make it through, stumbling against England’s Millie Tomlinson, who posted a 12-10, 0-11, 8-11, 11-7, 11-6 victory at the Squash Centre in Admiralty.
“Today I did what I could, but it is just not one of my days,” said David, one of Malaysia’s greatest-ever athletes, who won gold at the Jakarta Asian Games. “It’s disappointing but things do happen. We just have to learn.”
After receiving a bye in the first round, the world number 10 was expected to show her dominance against 26-year-old Tomlinson, who is ranked 26 in the world, at one of her favourite hunting grounds.
“She [Tomlinson] played well today and I could not focus consistently, so my confidence went up and down,” said David, whose previous worse result at the Open was a quarter-final appearance last year.
“She had nothing to lose and was going for everything. And she did not make mistakes in the last two games.”