KUALA LUMPUR – A desire to impart her years of experience to the younger generation has seen former world number five squash player Low Wee Wern make the tough decision to hang up her racquet.
Turning pro at the tender age of 18 in 2014, she is the only Malaysian to hit the top five in the world rankings while training full-time in the country, in her home state of Penang.
Datuk Nicol David and men’s players, Ong Beng Hee and Mohd Azlan Iskandar, were all based overseas when they hit their career highs.
“I have had a long and successful career, I was number five in the world and I’ve won a couple of medals at the Asian Games so it has been quite a fulfilling journey.
“But I have also had a number of setbacks, where I’ve undergone four knee surgeries and have made a comeback from each one of them.
“My last surgery was in 2021, two months before I was dropped from the national team and I still tried to play on for another year or so without support from the National Sports Council.
“I still managed to climb from 440-ish to 62 in the rankings in just 12 months,” the two-time Asian Games gold medalist said when contacted by Scoop.
The 33-year-old, who never left Penang to sharpen her skills, said that there were times that she doubted if she could continue to play squash ever again after her multiple knee surgeries.
“People always say you need to have a positive mindset but I’ll be honest, there were times when I thought I would never be able to play squash again.
“But it comes to a point in your career where it is not just about you and what you want to achieve anymore.
“It became about the people who stood by me through all my surgeries… my team, coach and family never left my side, despite being out for years with injuries.
“So, that is one of the reasons that I choose to continue despite going under the knife four times,” she added.
Having amassed a collection of 19 junior titles and four national titles in her career, Wee Wern now wants to inspire the next generation that it is possible to make it to the top of squash despite being based in Asia.
“The last couple of months I have had offers from overseas to coach and that is one of the reasons why I decided to retire.
“I have offers from two Southeast Asian countries for the position of head coach and I will make an official announcement when I sign the contract some time next week.
“It is a bit unfortunate that there were no offers from Malaysia but my goal as a coach is to show younger kids that it is possible to be a top player based in Asia.
“We don’t always have to look to Europe or anywhere else abroad; I want to give them a chance to have a career in squash without having to leave home,” said Wee Wern, who also mentioned that she has received offers from private clubs outside of Asia. – February 21, 2024