Serme denies Nicol David a fairytale ending at the World Championships

Chicago, February 27: Squash queen Nicol David made her final-ever appearance at the sport's pinnacle tournament as the Malaysian lost to France's Camille Serme in the third round of the Professional Squash Association (PSA) World Championships at Chicago Union Station's Great Hall.

"Squash has come a long way, so to get this far is a thrill for me. With this being my last Worlds, I gave it my all, I'll take whatever I got and I really enjoyed my match," said Nicol, who had recently announced her decision to call time time on her career at the end of the current PSA season .

The eight-time world champion had won 16 of her 18 PSA Tour matches against Serme and started on the front foot as she rose to the occasion, holding the French player off to take a one-game lead.

"Millie beat me last time, so I had to really be on my game from the start and keep my focus.

"You get your mind around the fact it's time to retire, but to be here for this million dollar event in this venue, it's just great."@NicolDavid pic.twitter.com/af3y5PgmMi

— World Squash Champs (@wcsquash) February 25, 2019

But Serme controlled the court well from that moment onwards and came back to win 9-11, 11-4, 11-4, 11-5 to deny the 35-year-old, the chance at a fairytale ending.

🗣 Hear from @NicolDavid after the 8x World Champion made her final World Champs appearance

The Malaysian icon lost out to @CamilleSerme at @ChiUnionStation pic.twitter.com/lz1LR9zzZj

— PSA World Championships (@PSAWorldChamps) February 26, 2019

"It's been so great to be part of this major event. It's our first $1m event and I got a chance to play in it, which is great," added Nicol, who holds more World Championship titles than any other woman, winning the event eight out of ten times between 2005 and 2014.