KUALA LUMPUR: It would have been a great tale to tell had former world No 5 Low Wee Wern converted one of the two matchball opportunities that came her way.
Unfortunately, she wasn't able to, and it was her opponent, Hong Kong's Cheng Nga Ching who won 11-9, 10-12, 5-11, 12-10, 11-3 and took the Dynam Cup title in Yokohama, Japan, today.
Nevertheless, it was still an inspirational performance from the 32-year-old Wee Wern who had defied the odds to even reach the final.
Following her latest knee surgery in 2021, many had already written off the Penangite's chances of ever competing again.
She has been on the operating table numerous times since suffering an anterior cruciate ligament injury in 2014.
Yet Wee Wern, for the first time in five years, managed to string together a run that saw her play four matches in four days, including a first final appearance in five years.
In the semi-final, the two-time Asian Games gold medallist came from 2-1 down to beat Hong Kong's Toby Tse 11-7, 9-11, 5-11, 11-5, 11-6.
In the final, Wee Wern was already struggling with her movement after the second game, but played great squash and looked set to seal a memorable victory after leading 10-8 in the fourth game.
That was when her touch deserted her and it was Nga Ching who went on to take the win after 50 minutes.
"I was really struggling after the second game and I had to manage with what I could do on court," said Wee Wern.
"Even though I lost today, what's important was that I did not give up until the end and it's also the first time in a long time that I've played four matches in a row.
"Although I don't have anything to prove nor do I have any fixed targets now, a result like this still makes me hungry to compete and in the end I still really wanted to win."
Wee Wern will remain in Japan for a few more days to conduct coaching clinics at the Greetings Squash Club in Saitama.
Meanwhile, in the men's final of the Dynam Cup, top seed Addeen Idrakie failed to come good after falling to home favourite Ryunosuke Tsukue 11-5, 11-3, 11-2 in the final.
