SAITAMA: With her professional career gradually dwindling, former world No 5 squash player Low Wee Wern appears to have found a knack for what the future holds for her.
Wee Wern has served the nation for several years and reached the heights on the Professional Squash Association (PSA) Tour by becoming only the second Malaysian player in history after Datuk Nicol David to crack the top five rankings.
However, unfortunate anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) injuries affected her career.
Her determination to continue competing saw her making numerous comebacks, but each time it placed a heavy toll on her knees.
The Penang-born is aware of her physical limitations. While she has started to pick some coaching roles with the Squash Academy of Penang (SAP), she has certainly mastered a new skillset — as a motivational speaker.
The 32-year-old is currently in Japan conducting a coaching clinic and giving motivational talks to budding juniors and parents at the Greetings Squash Club in Saitama.
The club is managed by two current Japanese national players — Tomotaka Endo and Naoki Hayashi and is frequented by several members of the national team, including women's world 19 Satomi Watanabe.
With over 70 juniors, it currently has the biggest junior programme in Japan. There are also 250 club members — an impressive number considering that squash is not popular in Japan.
And Wee Wern was surprised with the reception and interest shown during her time in Japan.
"As far as coaching is concerned, I've done some coaching in Singapore, and we do get a lot of foreign players that come over to Penang to train," said Wee Wern.
"It is my first time here in Japan. It is an eye-opening experience working with a new group of players.
"I've actually been doing corporate talks. It's refreshing to share my story and the lessons that come with it.
"But it's actually the first time I've done a talk that is more about squash, and my training process when I was young.
"I think it is a good experience because, as athletes, we have interesting stories and experiences that most people do not see or know.
"So to talk about it is a great way to open the eyes of many people and to offer new perspectives.
"I think this could be a viable career path for me in the future, although I would prefer a balance of both actual coaching and giving talks.
"Right now, I'm still very much involved in the sport, training and competing, and there are times when I receive messages from people around the world saying they are fans of my squash. It is certainly heartwarming to receive messages like those to know the impact you've left."
For now, though, Wee Wern still wants to push as much as she can while her body still allows it.
And she will be down to compete in the Dynam Cup in Yokohama from May 2-6.
The world No 81 is the top seed in the tournament and will be looking to make a strong run in only her fourth competition of the year.
Besides Wee Wern, the other Malaysians in the mix are men's players Addeen Idrakie, Syafiq Kamal, Darren Rahul Pragasam, Duncan Lee and Bryan Lim.
