Local squash star Max Lee is closing on top 10, but says he is taking it a step at a time
Ahead of next month’s Hong Kong Open, the 27-year-old world number 13 will concentrate on going as far as he can game by game, tournament by tournament
Max Lee Ho-yin remains upbeat on becoming the first men’s squash player from Hong Kong to break into the world’s top 10, but admitted the small step forward would be a great result from the hard work.
Currently ranked 13th in the world, Lee showed a glimpse of top 10 quality when he beat world No 1 Mohamed El Shorbagy of Egypt in the China Open in Shanghai last month, followed by his victory in the Macau Open.
But the 27-year-old, who attended the draw of the Cathay Pacific Sun Hung Kai Financial Hong Kong Open yesterday, refused to set any deadline for when he would reach his top 10 target.
“It has been my dream to become a top 10 player since I first started on the pro tour from outside 400,” said Lee. “But these days it is pretty close in the world’s top 30, I would say and, in fact, other than the top three players, any player has a chance of beating his opponent on the day.
“I first broke into the top 20 in December and have now reached number 13 in the world. It seems there is only a small hurdle in front me, but I can tell you it requires a lot of hard work to close that small gap.