GEORGE TOWN, June 28 — She started playing squash at seven as a hobby and today, Low Wee Wern is the country’s No. 2 player and ranked No. 7 in the world in the women’s category.
The 24-year-old is currently recuperating from a knee injury after she twisted and tore the anterior cruciate ligament of her left knee in April.
Though this means she missed the recent 18th edition of the Asian Individual Squash Championships in Kuwait and the prestigious British Open, from May 9 to 17 in Hull, she is determined to come back stronger once she has fully recovered.
Low, like world No. 1 Nicol David, started playing squash at the Penang International Squash Centre in Bukit Dumbar here.
She began playing professionally in 2006, at the age of 16, but she actually started playing in championships at the age of 11 to bag a total 19 Junior titles including the U19 Asian Junior and Pioneer Cup titles in 2006.
The petite athlete gave up scholarships to further her studies in Harvard and Princeton so that she could concentrate on a career in squash.
Low is determined to reach the coveted women’s world champion title currently held by Nicol. Here, she shares the challenges she faces as a national squash player.
In her own words:
My mum gave me an option between tennis and squash. Living in Malaysia, the weather is very subjective and so with tennis, the weather could be really hot or raining, stuff like that, so that was one of the reasons why I chose squash because it is indoors. Basically, that’s how I got started in squash.
I started playing once a week just as hobby and then I got better, so I started playing twice a week. It is because we have a really good set-up here at the Squash Academy of Penang. So this is where the kids will start playing once a week, twice a week and once you get better, they pick you to play three times a week and that’s how I started playing more and more and soon, I started playing for Penang.
So far, I don’t have any regrets choosing this path. If I had not picked squash as a career, I would probably be in college right now because I was offered a few good scholarships to go to America to further my education. I decided to give squash a go. My rationale is that I can still go back to finish my education the later part of my life but with squash I only have this number of years to make it big. I was actually offered scholarships to Harvard, Princeton and Trinity to further my education and to play for the college. It is mainly because of my squash that they wanted me to go over, to get my degree and to represent my university.
Squash takes up six days a week so I don’t really have much time for other things but normally on the weekends, what I do is hang out with my friends. I like the beach so I do hang out at the beach with friends quite often. I am based in Penang but I travel at least five months a year. I travel alone a lot and after all these years, I am used to it and it gets better over time.
My ultimate goal is to be World No 1 and be world champion. I am hoping to achieve my goal within the next five years. I am 24 turning 25 this year. I feel this is still the peak of my squash season.
I train six days a week, twice a day. I go to the gym two to three times a week. I do outside running once a week and the rest of the six sessions on court each week as well. I guess it is pretty similar to when you all sit down in the office. This is my kind of office.
For me, I wake up normally about seven plus, eight every morning, have a light breakfast, I normally start training at about 9.30am, 10am to about 12.30pm or so. And then we stretch and warm down to make sure our body recovers. I have lunch and then I start training again at about 3.30pm till about 6.30pm, 7pm every single day. So there is not much time left throughout the day. I get home close to 8pm and have dinner. Normally I have dinner at home with my mum.
The funny thing about squash is that it differs for everyone. For me, four hours before a match, I need to have carbs, so either rice or pasta. For other athletes like Nicol, she can’t have rice or pasta. It’s too heavy for her. She will have only a sandwich. But for me, a sandwich can’t last me throughout a whole match. I need something more substantial like rice and pasta. It is trial and error and finding a balance as well.
This is my worst injury to date and my first surgery. It is definitely a setback because I was doing well this year. Now, I can’t get on court but I am doing some gym stuff, upper body, cycling and swimming. I am doing everything else around it to make sure that I am still fit and strong to be able to come back when I can compete again. I hope to be back on court, playing competitively, in October. That is for the US Open this year. Because this year we have the World Open in KL in December. And so, I really want to be able to do well there.
Success in the sport all boils downs to dedication, hard work and spending the amount of time day in day out in the squash centre. I gave up my education for this so I have to make sure to do everything I can in order to succeed.
