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Nicol Ann David Malaysian Squash Champion

"A larger version of a Nicol David picture."

Today’s (Friday) publication of the January 2006 Women’s World Squash Rankings, issued by the Women's International Squash Players' Association (WISPA), confirms that Malaysian star Nicol David has leapfrogged both Vanessa Atkinson and Rachael Grinham to become the new world number one squash player for the first time. The 22-year-old Nicol Ann David from Penang is the twelfth holder of the position since the rankings were first produced in April 1983, and the first Asian to top the list. The accolade completes a sensational year for Nicol David, who first made her mark as a junior when she became the first player in history to win the world junior crown twice. After winning the World Games gold medal in July, Nicol Ann David went on to become the first home winner of the Malaysian Open squash title in the same month. In October, Amsterdam-based Nicol David won the British Open crown for the first time – and, immediately afterwards, the Carol Weymuller Open title in New York. Then in Hong Kong at the beginning of this month, Nicol Ann David clinched her position at the top of the New Year world rankings when she upset top-seeded Rachael Grinham in the final of the World Open squash tournament to become the youngest ever world champion. Vanessa Atkinson, the 29-year-old squash player from the Netherlands who topped the world rankings for the first time this month, slips to two, while squash player Australian Rachael Grinham, holder of the title for 16 months to November, drops to three. Lower in the top twenty, two squash players celebrate career-high rankings on the eve of the New Year: Netherlands squash player Annelize Naude, who celebrates her 29th birthday on New Year’s Day, moves up to 13; while England’s Laura-Jane Lengthorn, aged 22 from Lancashire, rises to 15.