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October 18, 2005
Willpower - congratulations Nicol
Willpower - how much can we manage when we just get the mental mindset right?
Malaysia is a country thirsting for success in the sports arena. The moment some sport athlete "fails" to meet expectations, the whole nation is in uproar. Actually, it is tough to succeed in such environment. Or, may be I formulated this wrongly. It has to be a strong mind to win in such situation. How much easier is it for athletes to go out to the press before the tournament and say, "yeah, I try, yeah, may be I win, and yeah, if I lose, well, participation is everything." What I want to say is that it is the attitude of a nation that can make or break you. Besides, of course, your own inner attitude. I remember the world soccer championship back in 1974. At that time, it was a long time back that Germany won the world cup. Initially, nobody believed in the team but their attitude, their will to succeed increased from game to game. And they made it, and in the end, the whole nation was behind them.
Malaysian Nicol David claimed the Dunlop British Open, the first Malaysian and the first Asian to ever claim the trophy, against all odds, or better, against expectations. 55 minutes for a 3 games of squash - it must have been intense.
I believe that she can become a trendsetter for Malaysia. It is the mindset after all, that really can determine if you want to be a winner or just a runner-up. Can it be that this is the beginning of a Malaysia that gets better again in all the disciplines where it was strong before?
Posted by Andreas at October 18, 2005 01:20 PM
Comments
I predicted that she would be World No. 1 sometime back. She's not there yet but she is definitely on the way.
Posted by: Adam at October 20, 2005 01:59 PM
Andreas, the win against Rachael Grinham that you mention was actually in the semis. In the final, Nicol defeated Natalie Grinham (9-6, 9-7, 9-6) in 55 minutes.
Posted by: Sashi at October 18, 2005 06:24 PM