28 July,2026 09:15 AM IST | Mumbai | Subodh Mayure
Anahat Singh during the recent World Jr Squash Championship. Pic/World Squash’s Instagram
Anahat Singh, 18, who became the first Indian to win the World Junior Squash Championship in Ontario, beating Egypt's Ruqayya Salem 11-3, 11-7, 11-9 in the final on Saturday, insists she'll play with the same winning mentality, eyeing gold at the upcoming Asian Games (September 19 to October 4) in Aichi-Nagoya, Japan.
"It's an exciting time for me. I don't think there's pressure going into the Asian Games. It's just that I'm not so much the underdog [now], but there are many top players there like Sivasangari Subramaniam [of Malaysia] and Satomi [Watanabe of Japan], who are World No. 6 and 7. I've played against them many times and we've always had close games.
The stakes are very different now, and while the Asian Games alone is a huge deal, qualifying for the [2028 Los Angeles] Olympics [where squash will be introduced for the first time] is an added bonus and I'm just going to give my 100 per cent," Anahat, who won two bronze medals at the last Asian Games in Hangzhou, said in an online interaction organised by the Sports Authority of India on Monday.
She added that her first goal at the Asian Games will be to qualify for LA '28. "Every player is over the moon about squash being at the Olympics. No squash player thought they'd get a chance to play at the Olympics. I'm looking forward to having a shot at qualifying via the Asian Games. If I do that, I can spend the next two years training for the Olympics rather than trying to qualify for it. But if it doesn't work, there are other ways to get to the Olympics too," Anahat added.
