Nicol edges Waters in Singapore final for her fifth title

SINGAPORE: Four-time world champion Nicol David was stretched to the limit by third seed Alison Waters of England before winning her fourth straight CIMB Singapore Women’s Masters squash title at the Kallang Leisure Park here yesterday.

The Penangite won 18-16, 11-9, 12-10 in a gruelling 63-minute battle.

It was a ding-dong battle in the opening set. Waters had set point six times – 10-9, 12-11, 13-12, 14-13, 15-14, 16-15 – but just could not produce the crucial point to finish it off. In the end, Nicol won 18-16 in a match that lasted 27 minutes.

In the next set, Nicol took a comfortable 8-4 lead but Waters fought back to level 8-8 and then took a 9-8 lead. Waters again fumbled to allow Nicol to take a 2-0 lead.

It was the same old story in the third set. The English champion led 10-9 but fizzled out as Nicol grabbed the three points to clinch the title. With the win, Nicol has now won all her 16 head-to-head clashes with Waters.

The Malaysian admitted that she was lucky to win the first set.

“The first set was the toughest. It was like a five-set match. I had to step up my game to win the set,” said Nicol, who pocketed US$8,550.

“Alison continued to play some tight shots in the second and third sets as she wanted to win badly.

“I had to work really hard and was glad to win in straight sets,” said Nicol.

It was her 46th Women’s International Squash Players Association (Wispa) title since turning pro in 2000.

The Singapore Masters was Nicol’s fifth title this year.

She started the year by winning the Chennai Open (March) followed by the Kuala Lumpur Open (March), the Cayman Islands Open (April) and the Malaysian Open last month.

Waters, who received US$6,075 for her efforts, was not too disheartened by the defeat.

“My game has improved a lot this year. Now, I hope to get the better of Nicol in the Hong Kong Open in three weeks’ time,” said Waters.