PETALING JAYA: The National Sports Council (NSC) believe they have given ample time and rehabilitative care to former national No. 1 Low Wee Wern (pic) before removing her from the Podium Programme.
Wee Wern was among 10 players dropped from the Squash Racquets Association of Malaysia’s (SRAM) full-time programme following the NSC’s directive to downsize full-time athletes from 432 to 288 due to budget cuts.
The NSC did not renew Wee Wern’s contract that ended on Dec 31.
Wee Wern, who was once ranked fifth in the world, trains under coach Aaron Soyza in Penang.
She was consistently in the top 10 rankings before sustaining an unfortunate anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) injury to her left knee in 2015 and was ranked 67 before her exit from the programme.
NSC director general Datuk Ahmad Shapawi Ismail said they had taken care of Wee Wern’s injuries for the last few years.
“She went for three operations on the right knee, costing a total of RM300,000,” said Shapawi.
“She opted for surgery in the United Kingdom as the doctor there was confident of getting her back on her feet.
“We continued to give her medical leave throughout 2017-2018 without any cut in her allowance and assigned a personal physio trainer to help her with the recovery process.
“Wee Wern did come back to help the team win bronze in the world team championships in 2018.”
Shapawi added that the National Sports Institute (NSI) did inform her that she would probably sustain injuries to her right knee too because of the movement limitations.
“And it happened last year when she sustained an injury to her right knee,” he said.
“We paid for the operation but the medical expert said recovery would take between three and six months, so indirectly her preparation for the Birmingham Commonwealth Games and Hangzhou Asian Games will be affected by the rehabilitation process.
“We made the decision in our joint working committee meeting on Dec 17 that we are unable to offer her a contract for 2022 as her performance has dropped because of the injuries.”
