Nicol eyes eighth Wispa Tour title

2009/11/05

Devinder Singh

NICOL David will begin to wind down her season when she plays at her penultimate tournament of the year at the Carol Weymuller Open in New York today.

The World No 1 will be seeking her eighth Wispa Tour title of 2009 when she opens her campaign against a qualifier in the borough of Brooklyn.

With only five of the world's top 10 entered, Nicol will fancy her chances of winning her second title on American soil this year having bagged the Texas Open in May.

The biggest threat to Nicol, 26, will likely be in the final where second seed Rachael Grinham of Australia could await her.

But first Nicol will probably have to overcome the challenge of former Dutch world champion Vanessa Atkinson of the Netherlands in the quarter-finals and England's Jenny Duncalf in the last four.

In the bottom half of the draw, English duo Alison Waters and Lauro Massaro loom as World No 4 Rachael's biggest rivals for a berth in the final.

Nicol has only lost twice in winning seven of the nine tournaments she played on the Wispa Tour this year besides clinching the World Games gold medal.

The setbacks came at the Kuala Lumpur Open and British Open but Nicol will still consider 2009 a successful season after claiming the World Open for a fourth time in five years.

Following New York, Nicol will wrap up her season at the Qatar Classic in Doha on Nov 19-23.