Nicol David

She was the first recipient of the award which was established on 26 June 1975.

Datuk Nicol Ann David (born August 26, 1983) is a retired female Malaysian professional squash player.

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 reached the quarterfinals of the previous World Junior Championships in August 1997 in Brazil, as a thirteen-year-old and has since claimed both the Asian junior and senior titles, as well as the gold medal in the Asian Games in December 1998.

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

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, 2011 and 2015).

David is the first squash player to have won the World Junior title twice; in 1999 and 2001 under the tutelage of Richard Glanfield.

David won the Women's World Junior Squash Championships of 1999 beating her compatriot Lynn Leong in the final in Antwerp, 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.

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 when she beat compatriot Leong Siu Lynn 9–5, 9–3 and 9–2 in the final of the women's individual event to become the youngest ever winner of the title.

David joined WISPA 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.

David joined WISPA 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.

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.

David was also invited to carry the Olympic torch for Malaysia during the build up to the Athens Olympics in 2004 and being appointed as UNDP National Goodwill Ambassador for Malaysia.

She has won the World Open title a record 8 times in 2005, 2006, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012 and 2014, as well as the British Open title in 2005, 2006, 2008, 2012 and 2014.

David has also obtained the WSA Player of the Year on seven occasions, 2005–2010 and 2012.

Beginning in August 2006, David was the world number one for a record-breaking 108 consecutive months, finally ceding the ranking in September 2015 to Raneem El Weleily.

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.

She remained the only female squash player to have achieved this, until Raneem El Weleily emulated David's feat by winning her second World Junior Championship in 2007.

On 7 June 2008, David was honoured with the Order of Merit (Darjah Bakti) or D.B. in conjunction with the birthday of the His Majesty Tuanku Mizan Zainal Abidin.

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

She surpassed Peter Nicol's previous records of 150 months.

In a poll conducted in 2018 by the Professional Squash Association (PSA), 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.

Born in Penang, David is the daughter of Ann Marie David, a retired Malaysian Chinese school teacher of Hokkien-Hakka descent and Desmond David, a Malaysian Indian 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 (PMR) and obtained seven As in her Sijil Pelajaran Malaysia (SPM); the equivalent to GCSE, which she studied at Convent Green Lane Secondary School in Green Lane, Penang.

She was raised a Roman Catholic.

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, along with her sisters.