Way to go Nicol ! Proud of you...

So so so proud of Nicol David !!!

NICOL David sealed her place in the pantheon of squash greats by winning her fourth World Open title after an engrossing battle with Natalie Grinham in the final in Amsterdam yesterday.

In a re-match of the 2006 world final in Belfast, Nicol proved her shock British Open quarter-final defeat was a mere blip as she crushed Dutch hopes of a home win with a 3-11, 11-6, 11-3, 11-8 win in 51 minutes for her 40th career Wispa Tour title.

"To come back from last week, this week.. it's an amazing feeling for me," said Nicol, still apparently dazed from her stunning achievement.

"I don't know what I'm saying. In fact, I can't believe it still... four titles!"

The triumph put Nicol on par with New Zealand great Susan Devoy on four world titles and just one behind her mentor Sarah Fitz-Gerald of Australia.

Nicol entered the final after an energy sapping 4-11, 11-6, 15-13, 11-7 semi-final win in one hour and two minutes over Alison Waters of England on Saturday while Natalie needed just half that time to sweep past her sister Rachael 11-13, 11-6, 11-6, 11-4.

It set up a much anticipated final between the top two seeds, who were both making their fourth world final appearance, but the odds were stacked against Natalie, who had lost their previous 11 meetings since the last of her seven victories in 29 clashes with Nicol at the 2007 Seoul Open final.

Natalie was hoping to become only the second Dutch world champion after Vanessa Atkinson in 2004 and the partisan crowd at the Frans Otten Stadion were rooting for an upset when Natalie outplayed the World No 1 in the first game as she stormed into an 8-2 lead before taking the opener in 11 minutes.

But in what has become almost routine for Nicol, the defending champion settled her nerves to level the match when she broke clear from 4-4 in the second game.

The third game was over in a flash as Nicol found her rhythm and sped to a 7-1 lead to take a decisive two games to one lead.

Natalie, ranked third in the world, attempted to engineer a fightback in the fourth game when she led 5-2 and 6-3 but it merely delayed the inevitable.

Nicol drew level at 6-6 and after Natalie edged ahead at 8-6, the Malaysian reeled off five points in a row to leave her rival with the runner-up trophy for the fourth time in the last five years.

"Winning that first game gave her confidence but for me, it was a question of not a good game, now move on," said Nicol.

"In the fourth, those points at 8-8 and 9-9 were so crucial. I had to raise my game to take her confidence away, so I just went for it."

The world title is Nicol's sixth on the Wispa Tour this year following her wins in Cayman Islands, Texas, Seoul, Malaysia and Singapore in addition to winning the World Games gold medal.