Having barely hit a ball for four years, Malaysia's Zoe Foo admitted to "goosebumps" after making a bold decision to quit her high-flying corporate career and return to the PSA Tour.
Having been an immensely promising junior and highly decorated US varsity squash scholar, Foo abruptly disappeared from the squash scene in 2021.
After graduating, she quickly found herself swallowed up by the huge demands of a role in corporate consulting in Kuala Lumpur. With long working hours and lots of travelling to meet clients, there was simply no time to play squash. Her racket gathered dust in a cupboard.
But the desire to pick it up again laid dormant and she received regular encouraging nudges from those closest to her, including her boyfriend, the men's world no.11 Eain Yow Ng, and best friend, world no.19 Rachel Arnold.
Then, in June this year (despite the reservations of her parents!), she took the plunge, handed in her notice after four years as an analyst and associate for global consulting firm YCP, and became a professional squash player once again.
But firstly, let us rewind a decade. In 2015, aged 17, Foo was a member of the Malaysian team who won bronze medals at the Women's World Junior Team Championships in Eindhoven. At that time, she had just broken into the world top 100.
Earning a squash scholarship at George Washington University, she competed at no.1 in all four years, was captain for two, won the prestigious College Squash Association Betty Richey Award and earned All-American Honours, the first squash player from her college to do so.
But her graduation in 2021 coincided with the ravages of Covid-19. There was precious little recruitment of foreigners in the States, so she came home and landed a job in the corporate world.
In the four years thereafter, Foo's SquashInfo profile page shows a yawning gap. There are no recorded match results to her name from September 2018, when she started at college, until June 2024.
That comeback tournament was, figuratively speaking, just dipping a toe back in the water. She got a wildcard entry into a satellite event in Negeri Sembilan, Malaysia, and lost in the first round. An unsurprising result with little preparation.
Then, in April this year, she accompanied partner Eain Yow and best friend Arnold to Brisbane for the Australian Open. There, she got talking to close friend and compatriot Bryan Lim, who coaches at the renowned Daisy Hill Club. She also chatted with Daisy Hill's passionate founder and head coach, Bradley Hindle. Her inner squash fire had been stoked.
"I got the goosebumps," the 27-year-old tells Squash Player.
"I had been thinking about it for a while, but it's really hard to just drop everything. The passion for squash has always been there, but I was busy with the consulting world.
"Since that trip to Brisbane, I thought about it harder. It felt like I hadn't accomplished anything significant in the squash world and I felt then that I had to do something about it. I thought, 'I'm just going to go for it and see where it takes me.'"
It wasn't an easy decision, of course. It barely needs explaining that scrapping for crumbs on squash's Satellite tour is a somewhat more fragile career path than corporate consulting.
"I really enjoy consulting, so the decision was difficult," Foo admits. "My parents were worried, as any Asian parents would be! But I told them this is really what I wanted to do.
"My parents are very goal-oriented. They need to know what you have planned, that you're not just drifting in life. I'm going to see where I'm at by the end of next season and I'll reassess it then."
The support of her 'circle of trust' gave her the belief that her career pivot was the right move.
"Rachel [Arnold] always said, 'Just do it' but I never had the guts to 'drop the bomb!'" she laughs. "She has been really supportive to me ever since I picked up my racket and took up my membership with the PSA.
"Eain Yow hasn't pressured me to play squash, he just wants me to do whatever makes me happy. But he and Rachel are a big influence on me.
"They've always been pushing me and saying, 'This is only the beginning. We've always got your back.' I am very grateful and fortunate to have a supportive group of people around me."
She left the office for the last time in June and played a couple of Challenger Tour events in Malaysia, then headed back to Australia where the fuse had been lit earlier in the year.
There, Foo reached the semi-finals of a PSA $3k in Hobart, coming from two games down to beat the top seed in the quarters, then lost in the first round of a PSA $6k in Davenport. Back home, she then got to the quarter-finals of the Malaysian Nationals.
With guidance and coaching on tap from Bradley Hindle, Bryan Lim, Rachel Arnold's Singapore-based brother Timothy and Eain Yow's brother Eain Wei who is based in Kuala Lumpur, her brain and body was fully re-engaged in squash.
In September, Foo flew to Sri Lanka for a $3k Challenger in Colombo, and won it. Further runs to the semi-finals in India and Hong Kong followed, which brings us up to date.
"Goosebumps keep coming into my body!" she laughs. "I stopped for four years so all the small muscles I never worked on during my corporate days are tingling and I feel aches in lots of different areas.
"It's been quite a challenging journey. Getting used to the intensity of the training and doing two sessions a day, six days a week. I was a little bit uncoordinated and had to work a lot on my technique, but my muscle memory kicks in again.
"Now I am starting to see the results of the training. I'm still hungry and gunning for more tournaments and achievements in the future."
