SQUASH: In a class of her own
THERE is little to stop Nicol David from winning a seventh world title later this year after a dominating display in her title-defence at the Australian Open which ended on Sunday.
Nicol's 17-15, 11-2, 11-6 win in the final over England's Laura Massaro for her fifth WSA Tour title of 2012 extended her unbeaten run to 38 matches dating back to last October.
After last competing in the British Open in May, Nicol stuttered in the first round against Welsh qualifier Tesni Evans, even dropping a game.
But with the cobwebs gone, Nicol was all business and dropped just one more game against England's Alison Waters in the quarter-finals before overcoming Ireland's Madeline Perry and Laura in straight games.
The World Open is not until Dec 15-21 in the Cayman Islands but based on the evidence in Canberra, it will need a lot of effort for anyone to deny Nicol from adding to her burgeoning collection.
Nicol delivered a psychological blow to Laura when the World No 1 saved six game points in the opener before romping to a 10-0 lead in the second.
After being presented with her second Australian Open trophy by squash legend and 16-time British Open winner Heather McKay, Nicol credited her never-say-die attitude in winning the first game.
"The Australian Open is like a grand slam for us squash players and I'm just so glad to win it for the second time," said Nicol after her fourth win over Laura this year.
"It was hard to get Laura off my back, I had to really stick in there. It was mentally and physically tough. I just knew I wasn't letting that first game go, it was close, I'm just so glad to win it three-love. In the second I started to get in front and was able to start serving and gaining control."
Laura, the World No 4, said losing the first game was a huge blow she struggled to recover from.
"I just think I was a bit unlucky at the end of the rallies, I'd done everything really well the whole game trying to keep her at the back," said Laura, who dropped to 16-2 lifetime against Nicol.
Nicol will now return to defend the Malaysian Open on Sept 10-15 in Petaling Jaya before heading to the United States for the Carol Weymuller Open in New York on Sept 26-30 and the US Open in Philadelphia on Oct 6-12.
Meanwhile, Ramy Ashour claimed the men's title after winning an all-Egyptian final against Omar Mosaad 11-9, 11-9, 11-6 in 53 minutes.