Women's squash is seeking the sophomore surge

When she was just 8 years old, sophomore Yan Xin knew that squash was the game for her. And by the age of 16, she knew Penn was the school for her.

After beginning to swim at age 6, Xin tried her hand at squash two years later and the deal was sealed — squash became Xin’s sport.

“My dad used to play squash,” Xin said. “And [he] asked me if I was interested, and he dropped me off at this academy and I started there when I was 8 years old.”

Her route to Penn was not so similar to most of her peers — it started and ended with coach Jack Wyant.

“I met Jack, the head coach here when I was playing World Juniors when I think I was 14 years old,” Xin said. “Then he came over to Malaysia for a training camp thing and then I saw him in Hong Kong when they held World Juniors there. So he talked to me a little bit about Penn.”

It was only later that the deal was sealed for Xin.

“Then, when I was 16 years old, I saw him again in India, and that’s when everything was more set,” Xin said. “That’s when I started talking to him about coming to Penn to play — basically Jack is the reason I am here.

“It was my only choice, I didn’t really think about going to other schools.”

While her trajectory to Penn seems quite linear, the Malaysia native had to come a long way from home to get here.

“It’s hard, but I’m not really the homesick type, so it’s not too bad,” Xin said.

Once she got here though, Xin made it clear she would be a force to be reckoned with.

Last year, the rookie went 14-2 overall, including some big wins, like Xin’s victory over No. 6 Laura Gemmell of Harvard at Nationals.

“It was a huge achievement for me, because I lost to her twice during the season, and then to beat her in Nationals is great,” Xin said. “Unfortunately our team still lost, but it was a huge achievement for me because she was national champ two times.”

Her impressive season and Nationals run landed her a fourth place ranking in the CSA Individual Rankings.

All the while, Xin maintains her humility. For her, the success of last season leads to a bit more pressure now, which she is hoping to live up to for herself and for her team.

“Squash is a really individual sport, and I always play just for myself,” Xin said. “If I win or lose, [it’s] only me, I have the bad consequences. But here it affects the team … I play the best I can for my team.”

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