Harleein out to emulate her idol El Weleily at KL International Junior C’ships

High hopes: Squash player Harleein Tan’s toughest challenge in the KL International Junior Championships could come from Hong Kong’s top seed Helen Tang.

PETALING JAYA: Squash player Harleein Tan dreams of becoming one of the best in the world in the future like her idol Raneem El Weleily of Egypt.

The 15-year-old is currently one of Malaysia’s most exciting junior players, notably winning the the Under-11 title in the British Junior Open and the Under-13 and Under-15 crowns at the Asian Junior Championships.

Harleein hopes to continue her success when she goes up to the senior level and emulate El Weleily.

The Egyptian, who retired from the sport in 2020, reached No. 1 in the world ranking in 2015 and captured the world title in 2017.

“My idol is El Weleily and my biggest dream is to become top five in the world like her,” said Harleein.

“I like her style of play and she is very humble even though she was one of the best players in the world.”

For now, Harleein is hoping for another positive outing in the Kuala Lumpur International Junior Championships which starts today.

The Negri Sembilan lass has an opportunity to capture her fifth title in the tournament after winning the girls’ Under-9 and Under-11 titles in 2017 and 2019 respectively and the Under-15 titles in 2022 and 2023.

Harleein, who will be making her debut in the Under-17 category, is remaining cautious though as she will be playing in her first tournament in three months.

The Kolej Tuanku Ja’afar student took a break from competitions to focus on her studies.

“Due to academic commitments and trial exams, I missed a few tournaments,” said Harleein.

“I last played in the Malaysia Games (Sukma) and Tuanku Muhriz Trophy in August. I resumed training a couple of weeks ago and aim to regain my competitive momentum in the KL Juniors.

“I just want to play my best without too much pressure. I have been playing in higher age categories in national and international level. It’s challenging but I believe I can manage.”

Second seed Harleein’s toughest challenge in the tourney could come from Hong Kong’s top seed Helen Tang.

With the National Squash Centre in Bukit Jalil still under renovation work, the tournament will be held at four venues - the Jalan Duta Squash Courts, Sky Arena at Air Panas, Setapak, Astaka Squash Courts in Petaling Jaya and the Royal Selangor Club in Kuala Lumpur.