WISPA Rising Stars
Rising Stars
Nicol David, the world junior squash champion from Malaysia, heads the first ever women's world junior rankings, announced today (5th September) by the
Women's International Squash Players' Association (WISPA).
The first Rising Stars list is part of the recent initiative launched by WISPA, which offers maximum encouragement for young players and added prestige for national junior open championships. The new ranking list will be published three times a year, featuring full, regional and 'rising stars' members of WISPA who are under the age of 19 on the publication date.
Nicol David, just seventeen years old, successfully retained her senior Asian Championships' title in July, after becoming the youngest ever WISPA World Tour champion in February when she won the Finnish Open.
In second place in the September WISPA Rising Stars Rankings is Egyptian Omneya Abdel Kawy - at 15, the youngest 'rising star' - ahead of third-placed compatriot Engy Kheirallah, aged 18.
To help develop the link between junior and professional squash, national junior open championships around the world can become part of the scheme and offer world ranking points to their entries - these points forming the basis of Rising Stars rankings.
Hi-Tec Sports will provide shoe terms for the top five players each year as listed on 1st January. Similar support has been offered by Ashaway, the official string of WISPA.
1 Nicol David MAS
2 Omneya Abdel Kawy EGY
3 Engy Kheirallah EGY
4 Tricia Chuah MAS
5 Samantha Teran MEX
6 Dianne Desira AUS
7 Daphine Ting MAS
8 Kylie Lindsay NZL
9 Karen Lau HKG
10 Natasha Fowles NZL
11 Louisa Hall USA
12 Amelia Pittock AUS
13= Frania Gillen-Buchert SCO
13= Olivia Hauser SWI
13= Amina Helal ENG
13= Laura-Jane Lengthorn ENG
13= Alexandra Pearson USA
13= Jennifer Post GER
13= Tina Rix ENG
13= Alison Waters ENG
WISPA launch 'Rising Stars'
scheme 02-May-2000
In an effort to help young women squash players get started on the
international circuit, the Women's International Squash Players' Association
(WISPA) is launching a two-pronged scheme aimed at solving the problem. Called RISING STARS, it will offer maximum encouragement for young players
and added prestige for national junior open championships.
There will now be an introductory membership category for junior players who
are not ready for full membership. Alongside this will be the new opportunity for national federations to register their Under 19 Junior Girls
Open championships as part of the programme. These events will be able to offer full World Tour points and so become even more attractive to the players. Any player under the age of 19 can join the new WISPA Rising Stars membership
option. It will enable young players who only wish to play Junior Opens to gather points which can then be carried forward if they upgrade membership,
and so allow them to begin with a ranking. Any player who is already a full/regional WISPA member may play junior events as well as WISPA Tour
events and take ranking points offered at U19 Open events.
Starting in September, WISPA will publish three times a year the worldwide WISPA Rising Stars list (1 Jan, 1 May, 1 Sept). This will be compiled from
points achieved by all WISPA Full/Regional/Rising Stars members under 19 years of age on ranking publication date.
Kuala Lumpur, 02 May 2000
HOTEL EQUATORIAL
announces Worldwide Sponsorship of Nicol David
Hotel Equatorial is pleased to announce its worldwide sponsorship of Ms Nicol David, Malaysia’s number one ranked female squash player and current
World Squash Junior Champion.
The two year sponsorship commenced on 1 March 2000.
This is the first such sponsorship by Hotel Equatorial and as Ms. Geraldine
Loh, Group Director of Marketing Communications explains, “There was never any doubt who the candidate should be when the idea of such a sponsorship was mooted. We wanted to be associated with an individual who shared similar ideals and aspirations in his/her field as Hotel Equatorial does in the hospitality industry. In Malaysian sports, no one stands for these things better than Nicol David. In our meetings with Nicol, we have found her to be highly motivated,
disciplined and skilled. She strives for excellence not only in her game of squash, but also in her academic pursuits. Her competitive spirit and desire for excellence goes far beyond her age. Nicol competes in an international arena and does so successfully and we see that there are many parallels with the corporate vision and values of the Hotel Equatorial group.”
Nicol will endorse the Equatorial brand by wearing the Equatorial logo patch on the sleeve of her playing arm or on her skirt in all local, regional and international squash tournaments during the sponsorship term.
Nicol is a 16 year old lass who currently lives, schools and trains in Penang (Malaysia). Her squash career began in 1992 when she first won a silver in the Under 14 category of the Penang State Junior Championship. Nicol’s first national level win was also in 1992 at the Milo-Dunlop National Junior Interstate Championship where she won the silver for the Under 16 category.
In 1994, Nicol was selected for the Commonwealth Games training which was centralised in
Penang. In that same year, she was placed first (gold) in the Under 13 category in her first regional tournament in the Fuji Film Hong Kong Junior Squash Open. 1994 also saw Nicol’s debut at the Scottish Junior Open where she won the Under 12 championship. Since then, Nicol has participated in the Scottish Junior Open regularly where she has consistently won the championship in the categories she has entered.
During the SUKMA 1996 (Malaysia), she was part of the Under 21 squash team that won the gold medal.
This success was repeated at the SEA Games too. Nicol won her first Asian Championship titles for both individual and team category in 1998 and then went on to win the gold medal at the Bangkok Asian Games in the same year.
Her record for the 1999 season was even more sterling, where major highlights included the British Junior Open (Under 17, Champion), the Asian Junior Champion for both individual and team events, the German Junior Open (Under 19, Champion), the
World Junior Championship (Under 19, Champion), the SEA Games (Champion in the Senior and Team categories) and the
British Junior Open Champion in the Under 19 category.
Her rise has been meteoric and she shows tremendous promise as she progressively moves on to the women’s category of competitive squash.
As Geraldine summarizes: “Nicol is a role model to the youth of Malaysia and around the world. Despite the pressure of international squash, Nicol, along with her two siblings (who are just as involved in the sport), is still very much guided by her close knit family. The heady success and tremendous achievements so far have been tempered by strong family values, which is why you will find her to be a very down to earth person. This sense of commitment, competitive spirit and desire for excellence balanced with a strong family environment are factors that Hotel Equatorial identifies with and we are indeed very pleased to be associated with Nicol.”
Hotel Equatorial is a hotel chain that operates 9 properties in the Asia Pacific region. All Equatorial hotels are categorised as superior first class hotels and are located in gateway cities in the region: Kuala Lumpur,
Bangi, Penang, Melaka and Cameron Highlands (Malaysia), Shanghai and Qingdao (China), Ho Chi Minh City (Vietnam) and Yangon (Myanmar).
Hotel Equatorial operates on a simple but effective philosophy - to provide quality business class accommodation at affordable prices. It has, over the years, earned a reputation for offering a consistently high level of service, both in accommodation and its food and beverage outlets.
For more information, please contact Geraldine Loh, Group Director of Marketing Communications, Hotel Equatorial - Corporate Office at (direct telephone) +60 3 2275 7855 or e-mail at
gerry@equatorial.com
SQUASHPLAYER