WORLD RANKING BOOST FOR WEE WERN AHEAD OF ASIAN GAMES

KUALA LUMPUR: Low Wee Wern received a big boost ahead of the Asian Games as she made a huge jump in the world rankings after winning two back-to-back titles.

The Penangite, who won the Tasmanian and Malaysian Open titles last month, moved up 184 places to world No. 70 in the latest world rankings, which was released on Thursday.

She was ranked No. 25 in the world before a knee injury put her out of action for 21 months.

Wee Wern is known for her fighting spirit and she made a great comeback in tournaments last month.

Her first tournament was the National Championships where she reached the final before losing to S. Sivasangari in five sets.

But she was in excellent form in the Tasmanian and Malaysian Opens, coming from the qualifying to upset higher-ranked players to win both the titles. The 28-year-old Wee Wern said she made great progress in the world rankings after playing for just one month.

“I was ranked 254 in the world last month but I made a huge jump in the world rankings by winning two PSA (Professional Squash Association) tournaments. Breaking into the top 100 is good for my career.

“I will now be playing more in PSA tournaments to further improve my world rankings,” said Wee Wern, whose highest world ranking was No. 5 in October 2014. She said her focus now is to do well in the Australian Open in Melbourne, which started on Thursday.

“I just want to play as many matches as possible and also keep improving my game in tournaments,” said Wee Wern, who started her campaign in the Australian Open by defeating compatriot Aika Azman 11-5, 11-6, 11-6 in the first round.

She faces seventh seed Abbie Palmer of New Zealand for a place in the quarter-finals.

Wee Wern said that a good performance in the Australian Open would further boost her confidence for the Asian Games.

“I want to help Malaysia win the women’s team gold for the third consecutive time,” said Wee Wern.

Malaysia have a solid women’s team led by world No. 9 Nicol David and she’s also expected to win the individual gold.