Motivational quotes/advices for today's generation

Of course, for all the hardwork and effort that Datuk Nicol Ann David had put in will not end up in vain. She would want for others to strive to be just as successful as her. Her dedication and patience in becoming successful has definitely paid off well. Her expectations towards herself is high. As stated in the picture above, it's all about taking control. Well said, Datuk Nicol Ann David. The mind will not do what you reject in your self-thinking. If you believe that you could do it, the body will follow your will. Nothing is impossible. There is no harm in trying.

So here are a few motivational quotes/advices that I found by her for all of you people out there, if you feel like giving up, do refer to these. It might help! If you don't change, at least you might slightly feel something different that will make you change eventually in the future. A little bird once told me that a slow progress is still progress. Something is better than nothing, doesn't matter if it's little or moderate. :)

"It was more the enjoyment of the game that captured my interest and I saw that I was doing well too that got me motivated to keep getting better"

"My parents were very supportive of me without putting any pressure on my studies and squash. When I had a squash tournament, I would give more emphasis on my squash; I also had good teachers and friends to fill me in with school work... And then when there are exams, I would take time off from squash and focus on my studies. Squash has been a thing with my focus while I was studying"

"I'm grateful for the life I have through squash and the love of my family and friends who have made me the person I am today"

"The adrenaline and drive to improve my squash game although people kept on saying that I was more than good... It motivates me more and more"

"It has always been about the challenge. It determines you"

"My goal is always about improving my performance... experience is the key. Consistency after hardwork"

"I just need everybody around me to support me to keep my head up in every game"

"When I got the biggest opportunity to expand my career, I got sponsored by Malaysia's sports council eversince the Commonwealth games in 1998, I just build it all from there. I just couldn't let the opportunity go"

Last but not least, I would like to say that I am proud of her, I am proud to be a Malaysian. She did a great job in making everyone proud. She made an impact in my life, after thoroughly searching for information and researches related to her, I felt a feeling in my heart that would make a change in myself. She has definitely inspired me, and I will try my best to achieve the things that I have in my list. InshaAllah, everything will happen in God's will.

And oh by the way, you can check more about how she started from the bottom til the top by clicking here. It's a Youtube vid of her being interviewed. Enjoy!

Sources/References: http://msian4sports.blogspot.com/2010/11/interview-with-darling-of-malaysia.html, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wMP2xP60G08

Contributions to country

Datuk Nicol Ann David is not only well-known for her talent and success, she also contributes to the country with her kind heart by supporting certain occasions like fundraising, campaigns and charity events.

Although her achievements have shown that she has contributed more than enough for the country to finally get on the world map, she gave a helping hand in donating for those people who are in need of it. Besides other famous celebrities in our country, Datuk Nicol Ann David collaborated with Datuk Lee Chong Wei and other badminton/squash players to pour their generosity to these kind of events. She showed up for the Sapura Kencana Petroleum Malaysia Grand Prix Charity Gala night to raise funds for the National Heart Instituition. There were members of the F1 fraternity, Hollywood stars like Kimora Lee Simmons, socialites and more.

Datuk Nicol Ann David also participated in a fundraising charity bazaar which was held at Bukit Kiara, Kuala Lumpur by the Lions Club. The event went successful and they were happy that she could join and express her kindness. Other global campaigns such as Japan's "Hope & Smile" donation campaign was a part of her contributions as well in helping collecting funds for tsunami and earthquake victims in Japan.

This is definitely an addition and a plus to the country for having a kind-hearted sports icon. There are more campaigns, charities and fundraising events that she anticipated in, but the links weren't working. Sorry guys! Wish I could share more information.

Sources/References: http://www.newsabahtimes.com.my/nstweb/print/47451, http://mytomyam.blogspot.com/2009/03/successful-fund-raising-charity-bazaar.html, http://www.nst.com.my/streets/central/vips-celebrities-with-a-heart-for-charity-1.246141

Challenges she faced and how she overcame it

Everyone has to go through a phase where they really want to reach and achieve for something that they have determined to do. Like all of us, if we want to succeed with flying colours, we would definitely do anything just to get good grades and graduate just like everyone else. We read, we study, we revise. The same thing can be implied to Datuk Nicol Ann David. She went through a lot of situations and conditions that brought her down. It could lead to giving up, low self-esteem and other negative impacts to herself.

Datuk Nicol Ann David without a doubt is a normal human being, like the rest of us. She makes mistakes. There are times where she has to accept life as it is and get back on her knees after falling. Despite going through several losses in matches and tournaments; being accused of not focusing and concentrating (some said she deliberately made herself lose because she wasn't giving her best and acted arrogantly in terms of how she views every tournament). Well, frankly speaking, I believe in everything that she was pursuing eversince the starting of her career, she gave her best. She is humble, down to earth and always generating positive vibes. It meant more than anything. She pushed herself and went beyond her limits. She set her mind right and had priorities. Although there were a portion of people who dissed her while she was in her process of achieving her dreams, she put everything aside that wasn't relevant to her and rocked the court. Datuk Nicol Ann David is truly amazing and hardworking. All her efforts did not go down the drain, it rather made her stronger. She turned her losses into lessons, and improved.

For those who have doubted her, for those who have underestimated her, for those who have thought that she was just average; she proved those people wrong.

She is sincerely an idol, a motivator, and an inspiration. Her never-say-die-hard attitude helped her in her career, she made full use of her turning point. She made her dreams, into reality.

References: http://www.nst.com.my/opinion/letters-to-the-editor/nicol-david-emulate-her-never-say-die-attitude-1.71129

Achievements and Medals

This vividly summarizes all her hardwork and determination compiled in one picture. I looked up for some of her achievements on Google, saved it up and edited it on Adobe Photoshop CS3. Neat work, eh?

Anyway back to the whole point, Datuk Nicol Ann David's achievements are too many to be listed down! It'll take awhile and hope it wouldn't bore you while you read. :)

• Her first global win tournament was held at Hong Kong categorised under 13.
• Datuk Nicol Ann David was in her teenage years when she was in the process of becoming the junior champion. This 15 year old girl beat 3 players who were ranked in the world's top 20 to get herself up as a junior champion. How AWESOME is that?!
• She made full use of her opportunity and owned the junior championship twice. She was one of the two players to have achieved this... She topped the history of squash!
• Datuk Nicol Ann David made it to the top 10 world list as soon as she reached 16. She was progressing better and better.
• She owns an invincible track record in Asia after victoriously winning the Asian Championship 5 times in 1998, 2000, 2002, 2004 and 2006. She was unstoppable!
• In December 2005, she became the youngest, I repeat, YOUNGEST, world champion after owning a match between Rachael Grinham (click on the link to know more about her) and Datuk Nicol Ann David herself, in the finals of Hong Kong Open tournament.  
• A year after that in January, she reached a whole new level of success when she conquered as the world's number one female squash player. 
• Datuk Nicol Ann David wasn't only the first Malaysian to take over the throne of squash world but she was also the first Asian woman to be ranked as number one. It was a great achievement to her, her parents and Malaysia must have been so proud of how high she climbed to the peak of her career.
• Despite being a number one in every tournament and matches, unfortunately it lasted for only 3 months because of her defeat at the Commonwealth Games in Melbourne. She won in second place :(
• Malaysians were in despair and felt upset with her loss in that match. They even predicted the failure and evoked the wrath of the Sports Ministry.
• Good news: that wasn't the last of her! Datuk Nicol Ann David bounced her way back with a hard bang by winning a record in 51 consecutive matches and was invincible or proceeded with her 'immortality' for 13 months before she eventually lost to Natalie Grinham in the Seoul Open final game. At least she made a great progress though! She proved that she could positively climb back on her two feet instead of crawling.
• She  rested back the position of world number one status and is still possessing it for more than a year! She drifted her way back up in her own single-minded determination and sheer effort! Now that deserves respect.
• Even better, her success in squash did not affect her academically, she flaunt impressively and outstandingly which makes Malaysians see her as a remarkable idol. She would be preparing for her exams AND practicing at the same time to sharpen her skills in court. 
• On December 2007, she was announced as the winner of the inaugural Asian Sportswoman of the Year winner, beating other competitors who are among 100 athletes and sports persons who were nominated that day.
• And on this present day, she is now a professional squash player, well-known globally and highly respected for her achievements. Datuk Nicol Ann David is definitely a superb role model for Malaysians - and not to mention for other youths around the world.

Another piece of information:

• Her other notable achievements include winning the Asian Squash Championship eight times, a hard-to-beat record. That's outrageous! 
• She was also named the WISPA Player of the Year for 6 consecutive times from 2005 - 2010! She was honored with the Order of Merit (Darjah Bakti) by His Majesty Tuanku Mizan Zainal Abidin in 2008 and was the first recipient of the award that was established in 1975. This award is limited to only 10 recipients who have made significant contributions in the arts, sciences and the humanities.
• In the same year, she received the Darjah Setia Pangkuan Negeri  award as well, which explains why she is carrying the title 'Datuk' before her name. This makes her the youngest person ever to be conferred Datukship in Penang. 

Sources/References: http://july927.blogspot.com/2011/03/biodata-of-idol_30.html, http://esthervillejoanne.blogspot.com/2010/01/datuk-nicol-ann-daviddspn.html, http://ukahsinti.blogspot.com/2012/03/biography-dato-nicol-ann-david.html, http://top10malaysia.com/home/index.php/news-and-events/top-10-s-list-of-the-most-inspiring-women-in-malaysia

The biography of Datuk Nicol Ann David

As we all know, every country has a number of reliable representative(s) in certain sports or activity that could make their country proud and well-known among other countries. Malaysia is truly known for high competition in sports compared to all the countries in the world. One of it is, squash. The most famous and talented female squash player, Datuk Nicol Ann David has made herself through in becoming one of the top ranked women squash players internationally.

Datuk Nicol Ann David was born on 26th of August, 1983 in Penang. She is the daughter of Ann Marie David, a retired Malaysian Chinese school teacher and Desmond David, a Malaysian Indian engineer, who used to be a former state athlete and footballer. This shows that she inherited her talents from her father, he was an athlete back in the days as well! Her primary education was at Sekolah Kebangsaan Convent Green Lane and scored 7A's for her Penilaian Menengah Rendah (PMR) examination as well as her Sijil Penilaian Rendah (SPM), while pursuing her studies at Convent Green Lane Secondary School in Penang. Originally, her dream was to become an engineer since she was really good in Mathematics. Little did we know, this Roman Catholic squash player ended up to be the Malaysian female professional squash player. She is currently ranked as the world's number 1 in women's squash. She has definitely made Malaysia proud by breaking the record as the first Asian woman to achieve this. Datuk Nicol Ann David won "British Open" title in 2005, 2006, 2008 and 2012. Not to mention, she owned the "World Open" title record for 7 times in 2005, 2006, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011 and 2012. Can you imagine how much effort she has invested in so she could possess such achievements like these? She's a high-determined player! 

Sources/References: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nicol_David