Nicol David Sets Asian Championship Record

Prince star Nicol David established another notable milestone in her record-breaking career this week when she won the Asian Championship in Taiwan, becoming the first player in history to claim the region's most prestigious title five times!

The 22-year-old Malaysian first won the biennial title in Kuala Lumpur in 1998 - at the age of just 14 - and went on to retain the trophy in 2000 in Hong Kong, in 2002 and 2004 back in Malaysia, and this year at the Taipei Arena in Chinese Taipei, where she beat fellow Prince player Rebecca Chiu, from Hong Kong, in the final.

Last December, David established two further records in Hong Kong when she won the Cathay Pacific Credit Suisse Privilege World Open to become not only the youngest ever world champion, but also the first Asian winner of the title.

The victory led to David attaining the world number one ranking for the first time in January, again becoming the first Asian to top the Women's International Squash Players' Association (WISPA) list!

It was only in October that Nicol David signed with Prince Sports, switching to the brand's revolutionary O3 Tour racquet. Within two weeks, and competing in her first tournament with the pioneering racquet, David won the British Open crown for the first time - again making history as the first Asian winner of the title.

Nicol David was delighted with her historic Asian Championship triumph: "It's been a good tournament here in Taiwan and I am so thrilled to win this title for a fifth time.

"The people in Taiwan have put so much effort in making this all happen. It's their first time hosting it and they certainly have done a great job.

"I'm very pleased with everything and am now looking forward to leading Malaysia to success in the team event," added David.

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!