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03/11/2005
David Wins Open With New Prince
Nicol David Signs To Prince – Then Wins British Open With O3 Tour!
Less than two weeks after signing with Prince Sports - and switching to the brand's revolutionary O3 Tour racquet – Malaysian star Nicol David has won the British Open, the most prized trophy in world squash!
Since enjoying a sensational career as a junior, in which she became the first player in history to win the world junior crown twice, the 22-year-old from Penang has made rapid progress on the WISPA World Tour. After winning the World Games title in July, David went on to become the first home winner of the Malaysian Open title in the same month.
At the National Squash Centre in Manchester this week, the world No3 stormed through the high quality field, beating Australia's world No1 Rachael Grinham in the semi-finals, then her fifth-ranked younger sister Natalie Grinham in straight games in the final to become the first Malaysian to win a British Open title, and the first Asian to win the women's crown.
"Since I was young, it was always my aim to win the British Open – it's the most prestigious tournament of them all because of its long history since 1922," said the new champion, winner of six major titles already in 2005.
"And the new racquet really made a difference," added David of her gleaming O3 Tour. "It has a nice flow and moves through the air noticeably faster."
Nicol David follows her English name-sake Peter Nicol with major success using the O3 Tour. When Peter Nicol joined Nicol David on the winners' podium after claiming the men's World Games title in Germany, he was celebrating his 50th major international success – and followed it by winning the English Open back on home soil, in both cases without dropping a single game throughout the tournaments!
"Nicol David is one of the brightest stars in world squash and widely tipped to be the next women's world number one," said Prince International Player Promotions Manager Andy Bunting. "She will be a wonderful ambassador for the brand around the world, particularly in Asia where she is already a household name and one of Malaysia's most successful sports stars of all time.
"The O3 Tour was launched at the British Open and the interest it generated – undoubtedly boosted by Peter and Nicol's incredible performances in the event – was overwhelming," added Bunting. "We sold a good deal more racquets off the stand than we would normally expect to at such an occasion."
The unprecedented squash interest in the O3 Tour is mirroring exactly the same pattern achieved when the series was launched early this year in tennis. After switching to the O3 Tour, Argentina's tennis star Guillermo Coria reached the finals of the ATP Masters Series events in Monte Carlo and Rome, and the International Series event in Beijing.
Later, Russian tennis star Nikolay Davydenko won his first ATP title of the year within weeks of first playing with the revolutionary new O3 Tour, then signed a long-term agreement with Prince. After making his top 30 debut only last year, Davydenko added to his victory in the St. Poelten event in Austria by making his semi-final debut at the French Open – ultimately leaping to a career-high ATP ranking of six.
Prince's new O3 breakthrough is the first significant development in racquet technology since the late eighties when racquets changed from wood to graphite. The O3 -engineered racquets provide a large sweet spot in a manoeuvrable and aerodynamic frame. Prince re-engineered traditional pin-sized string holes into giant O-Ports, providing total string freedom for a livelier response across the entire string bed. This expands the conventional sweet spot in racquets by up to 54%, turning it into a Sweet Zone!
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