Incredible Hull-K was in my mind since yesterday. Not just because of the green and fierce character in The Avengers, but how incredible it was for Nicol David and Delia Arnold in Hull, England this week.

The Malaysian squash darlings must be still sleeping right now. It is 9.12 am over there on Sunday morning. I do not blame them. Who gets up early on Sunday anyway?!

Well give them a break-lah! Nicol just had an amazing British Open semifinal match against 2013 British Open Champion and 2014 runner-up, Laura Massaro. Nicol seemed to be on the right track for the final but somehow did not last till the end. With the support of English crowd, Laura managed to fight back and broke the Malaysian fans’ heart with a closed 3-2 victory.

My colleague asked me “Sharon, what happened to Nicol? Tired-ah? Not focus-ah? Old already-ah?”. I told him to shut up. That was it.

Nicol would never stop trying. However in my personal view her team would need to find a way to keep her motivation as high as when she first won her World Open or even her first British Open. She has achieved all that a squash world can offer. What is next?

So improvement could be as micro as it can be. Maybe out of 20 drop shots, 15 must go to the nick. Do not listen to me! I am just exaggerating things. But I am sure you know what I mean. If you do not, go play squash!

Pink Socks sales suddenly improved. Thank you to Delia Arnold. Instead of turning green and super muscular, she turned to her compression pink socks and that is her nickname now, Pink Socks. She entered the tournament as qualifier and reached her very first British Open semifinal. She herself could not believe it. To beat all the amazing players, Alison Water (World no. 3), Annie Au (World no.11) and Raneem El Welily (World no.2) was just unbelievable.

Delia did her best in the semifinal against young French star Camille Serme but her legs were just like soft beancurd. If I were her, I would turn to chinese porridge already!!!

I am very proud of the girls. Malaysia has a much improved women’s players now. After reaching our first ever final in World Women’s Team Championship last year together with Low Wee Wern and Zulhijjah Azan, I hope to be their team manager again to witness Malaysia lift the trophy as the best women team in the world.
For now, keep your head high Nicol and Delia. Malaysia is very proud of you!