Nicol, Chong Wei Consistent, Second Tier Athletes Shine At World Meets

By Zulhilmi Supaat KUALA LUMPUR, Dec 27 (Bernama) -- The outstanding and consistent successes of Nicol Ann David and Lee Chong Wei in the world arena were among the highlights of national sports achievement this year. Coupled with that, the national contingent surpassed its gold medal target at the SEA Games in Indonesia, as new-found talents emerged in world championships. Nicol, 28, continued her sterling march as the world number one player, according to the Women's International Squash Players Association (Wispa) for the 65th month since August 2007, up till this month. Her biggest win for the year was the World Open in Rotterdam, Netherlands for the sixth consecutive time after defeating her traditional foe and world number two player Jenny Duncalf, of England, 11-2, 11-5, 11-0 in only 29 minutes. In fact, she also broke the previous record held by five-time World Open champion, Australian legend Sarah Fitz-Gerald since 2002. Nicol continued her brilliant streak in the Hong Kong Squash Open last month, winning the title for the seventh consecutive time, apart from capturing the elusive Australian Open for the first time in August. Throughout 2011, Nicol clinched the KL Open (March), Cayman Islands Open (April), Malaysia Open (July) and the Qatar Classic championship in October. At the badminton court, Chong Wei, 29, maintained his status as world number one singles player -- despite being overshadowed by Lin Dan of China. Chong Wei, who hails from Penang, however, lost to the Chinese champion in the China Open semi-final in November, and the last time Chong Wei defeated Lin Dan was in March at the All-England Championships. In local tournaments, Chong Wei recorded a historical achievement after winning the National Grand Prix Circuit for the 10th consecutive time. During the year, Chong Wei won the Malaysia Open (January), All-England (March), Indian Open (April), Malaysia Open Grand Prix Gold (May), Indonesian Open (June) and French Open (Oct). Malaysia also participated in the Commonwealth Youth Games in the Isle of Man in September, collecting four gold, two silver and a bronze in which all medals were from badminton. At the 26th World Universities Games in Shenzen, China in August, the national contingent could only bring back a silver and two bronze medals, thanks to national divers Pandelela Rinong and Leong Mun Yee. At the 26th SEA Games in Jakarta and Palembang, Indonesia in November, Malaysia surpassed its maximum target of 45 gold when it delivered 59 gold, 50 silver and 82 bronze medals. Nonetheless, the most meaningful success for Malaysia was defending its football gold medal which was considered as the 'mother of all medals', by pipping host Indonesia 4-3 on penalty kicks. Apart from the successes of the senior athletes, new talents, as well as second-tier athletes, showed more prominence at world-level championships. Among those who stole the limelight was national youth badminton player Zulfadli Zulkifli who emerged World Youth Champion for the first time after defeating Viktor Axelsen of Denmark in the final in Taiwan last month. Zulfadli, 19, who is also Asian Youth champion, had to fight hard for his victory over Axelsen, 21-18, 9-21, 21-19 in 50 minutes. The doubles pair of Nelson Heg-Teo Ee Yi also followed the footstep of Zulfadli when they took the world doubles champion title after thrashing the host country's Po Jui Huang-Chia Lu Yin 21-17, 21-17. On the back of the glittering successes of the national athletes, tragedy struck at the Malaysian Moto GP in the Sepang International Racing Circuit, stunning thousands of fans. Marco Simoncelli, of Italy, was killed in a crash during the race in October. Simoncelli's demise broke the otherwise clean record of the racing circuit since it was opened in 1999. -- BERNAMA