Squash
Anahat Singh: “It was always my dream to win the junior world championship”
After becoming the first Indian player to win the World Junior Squash Championship, 18-year-old has big targets as she moves into the senior circuit.
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Anahat Singh justified why she is considered one of the brightest young talents in Indian sports as she captured the World Junior Squash Championship title in July 2026.
The 18-year-old defeated Egypt's Ruqayya Salem 11-3, 11-7, 11-9 in the final at Niagara-on-the-Lake in Canada to become the first Indian to win the world junior title.
Since representing India at the 2022 Birmingham Commonwealth Games at the age of 14, Anahat has gone from strength to strength. She picked up two bronze medals at the deferred 2022 Asian Games and won the Asian Junior Championships thrice.
The Delhi native wrapped up her junior career with the world title, which had eluded her in four previous attempts.
Here she speaks about her journey and the road ahead.
Anahat Singh
© Focus Sports
What does it feel like being the first Indian to achieve this feat?
It's exciting to get to hear that. Going into the tournament, I didn't know that I had the chance of being the first Indian to win it (junior world championship). It was always my dream to win this event. So, whether I was the first Indian or not, it would have been the same feeling. But it's always great to hear that. And hopefully, it pushes me to win more events in the future as well.
And knowing that this was going to be your last year at the World Juniors, did it push you harder?
It definitely gave me a bit more motivation. It was my fifth year playing this event. This was my last chance, and it was also my last junior event. So, I wanted to end my junior career on a good note. I just wanted to win this tournament to get more confidence. To win a World Championship has been my dream forever. So, all of it combined just added to the motivation of the whole event.
Did your previous defeats play on your mind when you went into the finals?
It did a little bit, I'd say, in the quarters. Because I had lost in the quarters three years in a row. I was thinking about it a little and felt the pressure in the quarters. But I think once I got through that, it gave me more confidence going into the semis. And going into the finals, I think I'd played two tough matches before. And I'd played on this court for multiple hours now. I think all those matches and the bit of pressure I’d felt before helped me feel relaxed on the final day.
Is there anything that you did differently that worked for you this time compared to the previous years?
Honestly, nothing that I did differently. The build-up to it was quite similar. I think mainly the mentality was different. Just knowing that it was my last year as well. And knowing that I've played these players multiple times before as well. I knew what I was getting into going into the event.
What does this mean for Indian squash?
I hope it pushes more people to play squash. It's not that big in India right now. It's definitely grown a lot since I started playing but there's still a lot more potential for it to grow. Hopefully people can watch these events and pick up a racket, especially the younger kids.
How much did the experience of playing in the seniors help in this journey?
It definitely helped because I had been playing on the senior tour for the last one year. The level is a lot different. I went into this tournament with the mentality that I’d beaten players in the top-10 and top-20 in the senior circuit, so I must play that same level of squash that I do in the seniors. And if I can do that, then I should be able to win.
Since you are now going into seniors full-time, what is the difference and how do you make that step up?
There'll be a huge difference between like 17-year-olds playing and 27-year-olds playing. Physicality is a huge aspect. And also experience, especially on crucial points and tournaments like this. When there's high pressure, it is really important to know how to handle that sort of pressure to be able to win matches that can be very tightly-fought contests. I think that's what makes the difference.
How are you preparing for the physicality of the senior tour?
I've been trying to work a little bit more, but it gets really tough to do it because I'm traveling a lot of the year. It is tough to follow a program and routine, especially when I've not really done it too much in the past few years. I am going to be focusing more on the gym and more fitness work rather than squash because, that can come any time.
Anahat Singh
© Focus Sports
Can you talk a little about your time at the Red Bull Athlete Performance Centre in Salzburg? When did you go there and what was the experience like?
I went right before the World Juniors. It was the first time I visited; I spent a week at the centre. The place was really, really beautiful. Not everyone gets the opportunity to go to a high-performance centre. There were so many different tests. I knew that I need to work on my physicality, but doing the tests in the centre helped me understand exactly what areas of physicality need more work. Just seeing the athletes over there, they were working so hard for so many hours a day. I don't really do that too much. But seeing them just motivated me a little bit more to focus on going to the gym and not get lazy about it.
Asian Games is around the corner. Is that the next big goal for you, especially with the singles winner awarded a spot at the 2028 Olympics?
I think it's a very, very important event and whether it was an Olympic qualifying event or not, it's still Asian Games and it still matters a lot. But with the Olympics qualification, it's a bonus motivation. If I'm able to train hard, do well, and get a gold, that would be amazing. Then I can just focus on the next few years on training for the Olympics rather than worrying about whether I qualify or not.
How have expectations from the outside, as well as from yourself, grown with every tournament? And how do you handle it?
As I continue to improve in the squash circuit, I tend to expect more from myself. And I’m sure others also expect more from me. But that's a good thing because it pushes me to do better and train in a certain way. If I have no goals, then I'll be just training blindly, and I won't really have anything to work towards. Rather than pressure, I take it more as excitement to see what I can actually do.
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