KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysian squash queen Nicol David suffered the biggest defeat in her career since 2002 after she was knocked out by the Egyptian teenager, Hania El Hammamy, in the opening round in the Windy City Open in Chicago, United States on Friday (Saturday, Malaysian Time).

Nicol, the eight-time world champion, took a commanding lead in the match by taking the first two sets, but the 17-year-old Cairo-native produced a remarkable fightback to score a 8-11, 8-11, 11-4, 11-3, 11-9 win.

For the record, the last time Nicol was knocked out in the first round of a World Series event was in the 2002 Seattle Open in the United States.

The victory saw Hania setup a second round meeting with Alison Waters after the England player earned a hard-fought 11-5, 11-7, 8-11, 4-11, 11-4 win against Joey Chan of Hong Kong in another opening round match.

Malaysia’s campaign in the men’s event had already fizzled out after two players – Ng Eain Yow and Mohd Nafiizwan Adnan – failed to get past the qualifying round.