SQUASH player Low Wee Wern, who recently announced her retirement after 16 years as a professional, will fly to Manila on Friday (March 1) to sign a one-year contract as head coach of the Philippines squash team.

With this move, she becomes the first Malaysian female squash player to assume the role of the head coach for a national team.

In an interview with Buletin Mutiara, conducted alongside her coach Aaron Soyza and Squash Racquet Association of Penang (SRAP) president Datuk Linda Geh yesterday at the Nicol David International Squash Centre in Bukit Dumbar, Wee Wern, 33, expressed her excitement about entering a new chapter in her squash career.

“It is an honour for me to be their (the Philippines) head coach. It’s a year-to-year contract. The offer came as a little surprise to me because I did not expect it to happen so soon.

“Actually, I have offers from a few countries even though I don’t have a formal coaching background. I have not officially coached anywhere, except conducting coaching clinics in Japan, Singapore and China, and helping Aaron coach local and foreign players here,” Wee Wern said.

Wee Wern’s impressive record, however, has made her a prime target for the Philippines Squash Academy (PSA) to actively pursue her services.

She represented Malaysia for 20 years. 2014 was her banner year when she achieved a career-high at world No. 5. During that remarkable year, she won her second Asian Games team gold medal and an individual silver medal in Incheon. Her first Asian Games team gold medal came four years earlier in Guangzhou in 2010.

In 2014, she was also a key member of the Malaysian women’s team that finished runners-up at the Women’s World Team Championships in Canada.

Her achievements include winning 12 PSA Tour titles, four Malaysian National titles, the Malaysian Open in 2019, the China Open in 2012 and the World University Games in 2016.

However, her journey was arduous, marked by not one but four knee operations and a lot of struggles.

Her left knee underwent anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) surgery three times, and her right knee underwent a posterolateral corner (PLC) surgery once. In all, she now has 12 screws in both knees, and running in a straight line is now no longer possible.

“Before I underwent my first surgery in 2015, my mum said to me, “You have achieved enough, top five in the world, why don’t you walk away from the sport?”

“But at that point, Aaron and I have decided to go professional. Then, Aaron had not coached any professional before, so it would be our first attempt at it.

“If I called it quit there and then, it would not have been just the end of my career. It would have been the end for him and everybody else who had been with me throughout until then.

“So, there comes to a point in life where it is not just about my goals and what I want to achieve; it is a bigger picture.

“No one had ever done it in Penang. So, it shows the younger players that it is possible to achieve success. You don’t have to be financially rich or able to afford to go overseas to make it. We don’t have the luxury then. If you have just enough to do it here, everybody has a chance as well,” Wee Wern explained.

The amazing part for Wee Wern was that, just 10 months after her first knee operation, she took part in the 2016 World University Championships in Kuala Lumpur and won both the team and individual events.

During that time, she played with some discomfort in her left knee, only to discover through a magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scan, that she was actually playing without a ligament.

This revelation necessitated two more ACL surgeries in London, conducted by renowned British orthopaedic surgeon Dr Andy Williams, to address the damage in 2016 and 2017.

A long recovery process ensued, and true to her resilient nature, she made a comeback after 22 months. Following three surgeries, everybody has written her off. But incredibly, she defied the odds to win the Malaysian Open in 2019 and bag her fourth National title in 2020.

Due to the damage to her left knee, it took a toll on her right knee as well. Despite managing to achieve a world ranking of 26th, she was struggling at that time to cope with swollen knees.

The last thing she wanted was to go back to the surgeon again, but she had no choice.

In 2021, she went under the knife for the fourth time, this time on her right knee. Following a resting period of more than a year, her ranking declined to over 400.

Upon her return to the courts again, despite being unable to perform at her previous level, her ranking rebounded to 62 within a year.

On good days, she could still match with players in the top 30 or top 40. Even if she won a match, she could not play the subsequent match due to a swollen knee. Realising the strain on her body, she decided it was time to retire and hang up her racquet.

Looking back to her competitive days, her most unforgettable competition took place at the 2014 World Championships in Penang. As a top 10 player at that time, Wee Wern experienced a poignant moment during the quarter-finals. Holding match point after leading 2-1 against England’s World No. 2 Laura Massaro, she eventually lost the match 2-3. Laura went on to win the world title by beating Egyptian teenager Nour El Sherbini in the final, who had previously eliminated the home favourite Nicol David in the semi-finals.

Her ability to make comeback after comeback, despite enduring anguish and pain, has established her as one of the iron ladies in the sport.

Asked to describe Wee Wern in one word, her coach Aaron, who has been with her for over two decades, chose “committed.”

Their partnership is remarkable, with trust being the key to their success.

Wee Wern chose to forego scholarship offers to study in the United States, opting to stick with Aaron as her coach through thick and thin. She also decided to remain at home to train as a professional player instead of going overseas to be trained by foreign coaches.

Despite unkind remarks, including predictions of “You will never make it,” and suggestions to change coach if results were not forthcoming during challenging days, they persevered in their commitment to each other.

“Sometimes, some people said things to me or her with a lot of vitriol. But we take it as part and parcel of this journey. The more toxic it gets, the sweeter the victory. She has felt and tasted the toxicity, but she emerged victorious.

“And I feel she can do a lot better as a coach, having gone through tough moments and having seen how I work with her,” Aaron said.

As both have learnt a lot about knee issues, he said the experience gained can help them avoid knee injuries in their training programmes.

Even during the initial four to five years of training without financial support, they both persisted. Later, as they began to prove themselves, they managed to land some sponsorships.

“Partnership can work even if there is no monetary reward involved. We do whatever is necessary.

“If I want to make money, I make money elsewhere. I am not going to strangle the sport for money. Even strangling the sport for my benefit is silly.

“Eventually, SRAM decided to provide us with some allowances. I don’t think this kind of partnership (between Aaron and Wee Wern) can exist anywhere else because today, hardly anybody wants to approach it in this way.

“I, for one, don’t mind going through it again. I don’t mind not being paid to do all these things. I want to find a player who is willing to commit. I will be happy to develop the player to be a successful person. I have done it once, nothing to lose. I can do it again,” Aaron said matter-of-factly.

Aaron emphasised the importance of creating a positive environment for young players to grow and thrive.

“The culture here is all about good values. Everyone, be it a coach, player, administrator or manager, works hard and honestly. Everybody is dedicated, punctual, responsible and accountable. This forms the foundation principles for players or anyone to succeed.

“When we started our partnership more than two decades ago, nobody thought she would become a top 10 player or world beater. She was a young player and I was a young coach.

“It’s very hard to find this culture of good values worldwide. I get a lot of foreigners coming here. Not to blow our own trumpet, last year, we had 50 different foreigners.  There was one Japanese player (Satomi Watanabe) who spent seven years here.”

Aaron also credited his fellow teammate Khoo Teng Hin for Wee Wern’s growth and the development of several promising junior players, like Nikhileswar Moganasundram, Ivan Chang, Kreethi Pillay, Whitney Isabelle Wilson, Yek Rui Jean and Kayvern Arthur.

“Teng Hin is the backbone of the team. He is the man who does a lot of work behind the scenes. I really have to give him the credit for steadfastly standing by us, without even being recognised. We are more than just working colleagues,” Aaron said.

Geh expressed SRAP’s wishes for Wee Wern in her coaching role in the Philippines, acknowledging her potential to become a successful coach.

She also commended Aaron, even for his dedication in picking Wee Wern up from school for training.

“I feel so happy for her and we, as an association, are proud of her.

“We want to thank her for all her hard work and for being a role model for other young players, encouraging them not to give up while faced with challenges.

“She has gone through a lot of tears, a lot of sweat and also a lot of blood being a high-performance player. We are kind of like a family,” Geh said.

Wee Wern vividly recalls that when she was dropped from the national team a few years ago, SRAP allowed her to train as usual.

“To me and many others, squash is more than a sport. It is where we acquire our values at this centre, values that we carry beyond our playing careers. And I would like to impart these values to my players in the Philippines team,” she said.

Of course, uppermost in her mind as she embarks on her coaching career in the Philippines is the goal to prepare the team for regional championships like the SEA Games and Asian Games. The team currently has 12 players, with five of them engaged full-time. If her association with the squad persists, the ultimate aspiration is to aim for the 2028 Los Angeles Olympic Games.

Story by K.H. Ong

Pix by Siew Chia En