 Nicol
lends a hand to Wee Wern ...
By AFTAR SINGH
 KUALA
LUMPUR: World number one Nicol David will
lend a helping hand to Low Wee Wern’s bid to
win the prestigious British Junior Open
title.
Wee Wern, the Asian junior champion, is the
top seed of the girls’ Under-19 competition
of the Open, which will be held in Sheffield
from Jan 2-6.
The 18-year-old has not won any of the
Open’s age-group titles. Her best
achievement was a runner-up finish to
Camille Serme of France in the Under-19
competition last year.
In contrast, Nicol is the only Malaysian to
have won five age-group titles and her last
was claiming the girls’ Under-19 crown in
1999.
 The
25-year-old Nicol said that expectations
were high on fellow Penangite Wee Wern to
win the title this time, now that she is the
top seed.
“Wee Wern has improved a lot and I am sure
she will challenge strongly to end her title
drought in the British Junior Open. I will
be more than happy to help her with practice
matches in Penang to fine tune her shots and
boost her confidence,’’ she said.
Nicol has had her most outstanding season
this year since turning professional in
2000. She competed in 10 tournaments on the
Wispa circuit and won all of them. She also
took her unbeaten run since November last
year to 53 matches.
In her last tournament early this month at
the women’s world team championships in
Cairo, Nicol helped Malaysia maintain their
third placing.
 Meanwhile,
Nicol welcomed the “Gatorade Sweat Test”,
which was conducted on her at the National
Squash Centre in Bukit Jalil yesterday.
Nicol said that she appreciated the benefits
of the test and how it could help her
improve on her performance.
“As a professional athlete, I always want to
find the extra advantage that can help me
perform better,’’ she said.
“With the experience, I believe that the
sweat test will help me understand the
effects of hydration on my performance.
Proper intake of fluids plays a large part
in maintaining optimum physical fitness.
“Reaching the world number one spot was
never easy. However, maintaining that
position sometimes can be a lot harder but
with this new hydration plan, I believe it
will give me an added edge for my
competitions next year.”
Nicol is expected to play between 10 and 12
tournaments on the professional circuit next
year.
|
All Eyes on Wee Wern
By : Devinder Singh
NICOL David does not expect anyone, in the
immediate future, to emulate her
achievements as to do so would only serve to
foster unrealistic expectations.
 Much
has been made of the ability of Malaysia's
next generation of players and the high
benchmark set by Nicol can only be described
as unattainable for the foreseeable future.
With talent thin on the ground, only
national junior Low Wee Wern has been touted
by the Squash Racquets Association of
Malaysia to go on one day to replace Nicol
as the country's No 1.
Wee Wern was recently installed as the top
seed at next month's British Junior Open
girls' Under-19 category, increasing
expectations she might emulate Nicol's
success in winning the title in December
1999.
But while Nicol agrees that Wee Wern has the
ability to become a top player, the World No
1 cautioned against placing too high
expectations on the player or any of the
other national juniors so soon.
"Being the top seed is one thing but she has
to go in there and do her best. There is a
lot expected of her but you cannot expect
players to do what I did.
"I was fortunate in the sense that
everything fell in place at the right time
for me. She just has got to do her best in
her position," said Nicol.
Nicol believes Wee Wern, 18, has come a long
way in the last 12 months and has the
potential to make her own mark on the world
stage.
"She has improved a lot and when she was
training in Amsterdam with me (in the middle
of the year), I saw her play and she has got
better.
"It will be interesting to she how she
does," added Nicol, who was propelled to
stardom after winning five titles in various
age-groups categories at the prestigious
tournament.
Wee Wern herself was cautious in predicting
she would become only the fourth Malaysian
after Ong Beng Hee, Nicol and Tan Yan Xin to
lift a British Junior Open title.
 "This
will be my last British Junior tournament
and I haven't won a title there. It is my
last chance and I will be going there to do
my best," said the World No 42.
Wee Wern must get past Canada's Laura
Gemmell in the semi-finals to set up a
potential date with second seed Heba El
Torky of Egypt in the final.
Asked about Nicol's comments, Wee Wern said:
"I've been working with her on my game, even
when she's back in Penang. It's been good
training with her as I've learnt a lot." |
