KUALA LUMPUR: Squash player Whitney Isabelle Wilson will stop training for 24 hours for Christmas as she prepares for the British Junior Open (BJO) in Birmingham from Jan 3-7.
Whitney's parents, Wilson Anak Pilot and Wilma Jee, and her younger brother, Wayne Isaac Wilson, will travel from their home in Kedah to join her in Kuala Lumpur today for Christmas.
The Bukit Jalil Sports School student said she will stop training for one day to celebrate Christmas with her parents and brother, who is a National Under-11 champion.
"I'm training hard now for the British Junior Open where I'm seeded joint ninth-16th in the Under-17," she said.
After finishing fifth in the Under-15 division of this year's BJO in January, Whitney will hope to at least reach the semi-finals in the Under-17.
Whitney, 15, underlined her great potential by winning three PSA WSF Satellite tournaments this year. And she is one of the youngest female players to do so.
The Kedahan, who turned professional in January, said 2023 has been a great year for her.
"I never expected to win three of the six PSA Satellite tournaments that I played in this year.
"My hard work in training under coach Andrew Cross has paid off.
"I feel good to make a huge jump in my world ranking from 480 in January to 215 now.
"I hope to play in 5k PSA tournaments and win a few more titles to break into the top 150 by the end of 2024.
"My goal is to be one of the top women's squash players in the world," said Whitney, who helped Malaysia win the Asian Junior Team title in Chennai in February.
National Under-19 champion Whitney was also a member of the Malaysian team that won silver in the World Junior Championships in Melbourne in July,
In August in Dalian, China, she won an Asian Junior Championships bronze and she got a silver (Under-19) at the recent REDtone International Junior Championships in Kuala Lumpur.