Malaysian squash star Nicol David has been named Asian  Sportswoman of the Year in the inaugural awards launched by the Asian Sports Press Union (ASPU) in collaboration  with  Stropt  &  Sports Limited (Hong Kong).

A   panel   of   judges   comprising   of  leading  sports  journalists and  administrators  across  Asia  vetted  through  the nominees.  In order to be eligible for the awards, nominees must meet a certain criteria.  They should have  excelled in their disciplines for the particular year and be the best in  Asia,  with a minimum entry requirement of being Asian Games gold medal winners.

Commenting  on  the  results,  Vice President of  ASPU, George Das said:  "Congratulations  to  these men and women who have inspired and sparked the imaginations  of millions across Asia.  I hope by winning these awards, they will  continue to not only be the best that they can be but also to do the whole of Asia proud.

"We received over 100 nominations from 25 sporting bodies and National Olympic  Councils  from  15  Asian  countries," added Das.  "Cutting the list down to the final  three  for  each  category was easy but selecting the winners really made us judges think."

Nicol David, who has held the women's world No1 squash ranking unopposed since August 2006, enjoyed a distinguished year in 2007 - in which she established a 50-match unbeaten run and won eight WISPA World Tour titles, more than in any other year.  After clinching the final two major trophies of the year, the Qatar Classic and Hong Kong Open, Nicol went on to be voted 'WISPA Player of the Year' by members of the association for the third year in a row.

For the Asian Sportswoman of the Year award, Nicol David was shortlisted with Thailand Weightlifter Paweena Thongsuk and South Korean Winter Sports star Jin Sun Yu.

"I'm well happy about this award," said David from her home in Penang.  "It was already huge news for me being in the nominations amongst other top athletes in Asia, especially contending with China, Japan and Korea - but winning it is a real surprise for me.

"Hopefully, with this honour, squash can be widely spread throughout Asia and can generate more interest for other Asians to compete on the professional circuit sometime soon," added the 24-year-old, who has won five Asian Championship and two Asian Games gold medals since 1998.