Liz Irving believes Nicol can regain world number 1 spot

The 32-year-old Penangite's unprecedented 109-month reign as the world number one came to an end last month after her nemesis, Egyptian Raneem El Welily overtook her position after accumulating 2,979 points, 126 points more than Nicol who has 2,853 points.

“Being world number one for as long as she has is incredible. Her focus on the job at hand has been tremendous and I know that she is extremely hungry to get back there," Irving told British television, BBC as being quoted in the Professional Squash Association (PSA) website; www.psaworldtour.com.

"Of course she likes to be at the top of the tree, don't get me wrong, but she's certainly been very driven to work exceptionally hard over the last two or three months, knowing pretty well that this was in the background," added Irving who was the former world number two player during her playing days in the late 90's.

The 50-year-old Australian also paid tribute to Nicol's determination while insisting that the 79-time PSA World Tour title winner has the character to overcome adversity.

"It was just incredible (topping the World Rankings for over nine years). I have been on the whole journey with her and she is just a tremendous athlete. Her dedication, her drive and her discipline is just incredible. She has definitely exceeded all expectations.

"Certainly when we started working together, never in a million years would I have dreamt that she would have gone this far as long as she has,” she quipped.

She was also confident that Nicol will be able to bounce back after suffering a shocking defeat to world junior champion, Nouran Gohar from Egypt in the last-eight of the China Open, last week.

“She didn't really have very good results for the last six months so it wasn't a surprise that she dropped and that's just the way it is. I know for sure that she is definitely very hungry, very determined and very clear on the task ahead of her now," she said.