Anahat Singh

Last updated

Anahat Singh
Full nameAnahat Singh
CountryFlag of India.svg  India
Born (2008-03-13) 13 March 2008 (age 16)
Delhi, India
Education The British School, New Delhi
Height165 cm (5 ft 5 in)
Weight45 kg (99 lb)
Turned pro2023
PlaysRight-handed
Coached by
Racquet used Dunlop
Women's singles
Highest ranking82 (December 2024)
Current ranking 82 (Dec 2024)
Title(s)19
Tour final(s)20
Medal record
Women's squash Squash pictogram.svg
Representing Flag of India.svg  India
Asian Games
Bronze medal icon (B initial).svg 2022 Hangzhou Women's team
Bronze medal icon (B initial).svg 2022 Hangzhou Mixed doubles
Asian Championships
Bronze medal icon (B initial).svg 2022 Cheongju Women's team
Bronze medal icon (B initial).svg 2023 Hangzhou Mixed doubles
Asian Junior Championships
Gold medal icon (G initial).svg 2022 Na Chom Thian Girls' individual
Gold medal icon (G initial).svg 2023 Dalian Girls' individual
2025 Gimcheon Girls' individual
Bronze medal icon (B initial).svg 2019 Macau Girls' individual
Bronze medal icon (B initial).svg 2023 Chennai Girls' team
Bronze medal icon (B initial).svg 2025 Hong Kong Girls' team
PSA profile
Updated on 5 January 2025.

Anahat Singh (born 13 March 2008) [1] is an Indian squash player and a member of the national team. She's an Asian Games and Asian Championships double-bronze medalist. Singh is ranked 82nd in the world, as of December 2024. [2] She is the youngest national champion, the youngest Indian to win a medal at the Asian Games, and the youngest athlete to represent the nation at the Commonwealth Games. [3] In 2024, Singh won nine tour titles, more than any woman in a single year since Nicol David in 2010.

Contents

Early life

Singh was born in Delhi on 13 March 2008 to Tani Vadehra and Gursharan Singh. While her mother is an interior designer, her father is a lawyer. Both her parents used to play field hockey. [4] Inspired by P. V. Sindhu, a six year old Singh started playing badminton. [5]

She used to accompany her sister Amira who played squash. After playing a few squash tournaments where she performed well, she grew fond of it and switched to the sport. [6]

Career

Early beginnings (2019–2022)

Singh first rose to prominence after winning the U11 title at the British Junior Open in 2019. [7] This was followed by the European Junior Open, the Dutch Junior Open and the Scottish Junior Open titles the same year. [8] In 2021, she won the US Junior Open title by defeating Jayda Marei from Egypt. The next year, she won the German Junior Open, the Dutch Junior Open and the U15 title at the Asian Junior Championships. [9] At the age of 14, she was the youngest to represent India at the 2022 Commonwealth Games. [10]

British Junior Open title (2023)

Singh started off her year by winning the 2023 edition of British Junior Open in the U15 category after beating Egypt's Sohaila Hazem. [11] In August, she won the U17 title at the Asian Junior Championships held in Dalian, China. [12] She then won two bronze at the 2022 Asian Games in both the mixed doubles category with Abhay Singh and in the women's team event. [13] Singh became the senior national champion in November after Tanvi Khanna retired in the finals due to an injury. [14] She ended the year on a high by winning the U19 title at the Scottish Junior Open by defeating Robyn McAlpine. [15]

9 tour titles, breaking into top 90 (2024)

In January, Singh finished as a runner-up in Girls U17 category at the British Junior Open after a loss to Nadien Elhammamy. [16] In the same month, she won her first PSA Tour title at the JSW Willingdon LMS Tournament after defeating Japan's Erisa Sano Herring 11-4, 11-3 and 11-7. [17] This was followed by a win at the Hamdard Squashters Northern Slam in April where she defeated Korean Hwayeong Eum 11-6, 11-4, 11-5. [18] Her third title came in June at the HCL Squash Tour Chennai on defeating compatriot Rathika Seelan 11-5, 11-3, 11-3. [19] She then reached another final at the Dynam Cup SQ-Cube Open but gave her opponent Ruqayya Salem from Egypt a walkover due an injury. Singh then won the Reliance PSA Challenge 3 against Sri Lankan Chanithma Sinaly scoring 11-0, 11-1, 11-4.

Her fifth title was HCL Squash Tour Kolkata where she defeated Filipino Jemyca Aribado 11-5, 11-3, 11-7. Then, she won Costa North Coast Open by defeating Akari Midorikawa from Japan by 11-6, 11-6, 11-7. Next, she won the NSW Open against Hong Kong's Helen Tang with a score of 8-11, 11-6, 11-3, 11-4. The Sunil Verma Memorial saw her defeating fellow Indian Shameena Riaz 11-4, 11-3, 11-1. Singh's last title of the year was the Western India Slam where she defeated India's #1 and her higher ranked fellow Akanksha Salunkhe 11-8, 11-8, 11-8. Thus, in 2024, she won nine tour titles, becoming the first woman to do so in a single year since Nicol David back in 2010. She had 38 wins out of 40 matches, 31 of them with a dominant 3–0 scoreline. She was featured in PSA Squash Tour's list of players to watch out for. [20] Singh also broke into the top 100 and jumped 51 total spots to reach her highest world ranking of 82. [21]

(2025)

Singh started off the year by winning the title British Junior Open at the 2025 edition. [22] She defeated Egyptian Malika Elkaraksy with a score of 4-11, 11-9, 6-11, 11-5, 11-3. This was her third title at the tournament. [23] At the 2025 Asian Junior Team Championships, she won every match without losing a single set. [24] Due to her teammates losing their matches, the team settled for a bronze. [25]

Coaching history

At the start of her career, Singh was coached by Amjad Khan and Ashraf Hussein, followed by Ritwick Bhattacharya. [26] Since a couple of years, she coached by both Stéphane Galifi and Grégory Gaultier. [27] Indian squash icon Saurav Ghosal is her mentor and helps her decide which tournaments to play. [28]

YearsCoachRef(s)
Flag of India.svg Amjad Khan [29]
Flag of India.svg Ashraf Hussein [30]
Flag of India.svg Ritwick Bhattacharya [31]
2023–present Flag of Italy.svg Stéphane Galifi [32]
2023–present Flag of France.svg Grégory Gaultier [33]
2024–present Flag of India.svg Saurav Ghosal [34]

Titles and finals

YearTournamentOpponentResultScoreRef(s)
2019 British Junior Open Flag of Malaysia.svg Whitney Wilson Win (1)3–1 (13-11, 11-9, 7-11, 11-9) [35] [36]
European Junior Open Flag of the United States.svg Avery Park Win (2)3–0 (11-7, 11-3, 11-4) [37]
Dutch Junior Open Flag of France.svg Lauren Baltayan Win (3)3–2 (11-6, 11-7, 9-11, 7-11, 11-8) [38]
Scottish Junior Open Flag of Malaysia.svg Keertty Haridharan Win (4)3–0 (11-1, 11-1, 11-1) [39]
2020 British Junior Open Flag of Egypt.svg Amina Orfi Loss (1)0–3 (11-0, 11-1, 11-4) [40]
2021 US Junior Open Flag of Egypt.svg Jayda Marei Win (5)3–1 (11-9 11-5 8-11 11-5) [41]
2022German Junior Open Flag of Egypt.svg Malak Samir Win (6)3–0 (11-1, 11-4, 11-5) [42]
Dutch Junior Open Flag of Egypt.svg Malak Samir Win (7)3–0 (11-4 11-7 11-2) [43]
2023 British Junior Open Flag of Egypt.svg Sohaila Hazem Win (8)3–1 (11-8, 8-11, 11-7, 11-5) [44]
Scottish Junior Open Flag of Scotland.svg Robyn McAlpine Win (9)3–0 (11-6, 11-1, 11-5) [45]
2024 British Junior Open Flag of Egypt.svg Nadien Elhammamy Loss (2)2–3 (7-11, 13-11, 12-10, 5-11, 11-9) [46]
JSW Willingdon LMS Flag of Japan.svg Erisa Sano Herring Win (10)3–0 (11-4, 11-3, 11-7) [47]
Hamdard Squashters Northern Slam Flag of South Korea.svg Hwayeong Eum Win (11)3–0 (11-6, 11-4, 11-5) [48]
HCL Squash Tour Chennai Flag of India.svg Rathika Seelan Win (12)3–0 (11-5, 11-3, 11-3) [49]
Dynam Cup SQ-Cube Open Flag of Egypt.svg Ruqayya Salem W/O– [50]
Reliance PSA Challenge 3 Flag of Sri Lanka.svg Chanithma Sinaly Win (13)3–0 (11-0, 11-1, 11-4) [51]
HCL Squash Tour Kolkata Flag of the Philippines.svg Jemyca Aribado Win (14)3–0 (11-5, 11-3, 11-7) [52]
Costa North Coast Open Flag of Japan.svg Akari Midorikawa Win (15)3–0 (11-6, 11-6, 11-7) [53]
NSW Open Flag of Hong Kong.svg Helen Tang Win (16)3–1 (8-11, 11-6, 11-3, 11-4) [54]
Sunil Verma Memorial Flag of India.svg Shameena Riaz Win (17)3–0 (11-4, 11-3, 11-1) [55]
Western India Slam Flag of India.svg Akanksha Salunkhe Win (18)3–0 (11-8, 11-8, 11-8) [56]
2025 British Junior Open Flag of Egypt.svg Malika Elkaraksy Win (19)3–2 (4-11, 11-9, 6-11, 11-5, 11-3) [57]

Note:Table shows international events and does not include national level title wins

Awards and nominations

YearAwardCategoryResultRef
2023 Times of India Sports Awards Special Recognition in SquashWon [58]
Emerging Sportsperson of the YearNominated [59]
2024 Indian Sports Honours Sportswoman of the YearNominated

See also

References

  1. ↑ "Anahat Singh | Overview". PSA Squash Tour. Retrieved 16 September 2024.
  2. ↑ Singh, Kanika (10 January 2024). "Once a Badminton Enthusiast, 15-Year-Old Anahat Singh is Now a Squash Prodigy". TheQuint. Retrieved 9 November 2024.
  3. ↑ "Target Olympics 2028: Squash sensation Anahat Singh reveals Los Angeles dreams". India Today. 15 March 2024. Retrieved 23 December 2024.
  4. ↑ "Who is Anahat Singh – How a PV Sindhu fan became India's squash sensation". olympic.com. 21 August 2023. Retrieved 29 September 2023.
  5. ↑ "Junior British Open Champ Anahat Singh hopes to be India's squash face in LA '28". The Times of India. ISSN   0971-8257 . Retrieved 13 January 2025.
  6. ↑ "CWG 2022: Meet Anahat Singh, the 14-year-old squash player making her India debut at CWG". ESPN. 28 July 2022. Retrieved 29 July 2022.
  7. ↑ "Five nations share British Junior Open honours on thrilling finals day – Professional Squash Association". psaworldtour.com. 7 January 2019. Retrieved 29 July 2022.
  8. ↑ stevecubbins (14 July 2019). "Dutch Junior Open : Finals Day". SquashSite – all about Squash. Retrieved 29 July 2022.
  9. ↑ "Asian Junior Squash: India's Anahat Singh wins U-15 title". Free Press Journal. Retrieved 29 July 2022.
  10. ↑ Nag, Utathya. "Who is Anahat Singh – How a PV Sindhu fan became India's squash sensation". Olympics . Retrieved 29 July 2022.
  11. ↑ Cubbins, Steve (8 January 2023). "2023 Day Five – FINALS Day". British Junior Open. Retrieved 11 January 2023.
  12. ↑ "Anahat Singh wins gold in Asian Junior Squash Championships". Sportstar. 20 August 2023. Retrieved 21 August 2023.
  13. ↑ Palshikar, Prathamesh (5 October 2023). "Asian Games 2023 squash: India win two gold medals in Hangzhou - results, scores and medal winners". Olympics . Retrieved 3 January 2024.
  14. ↑ "Senior National Squash C'ships: 15-year-old teenage sensation Anahat Singh becomes youngest title winner in 23 years". Hindustan Times. 23 November 2023. Retrieved 3 January 2024.
  15. ↑ "Anahat Singh Wins U-19 Girls' Title at Scottish Junior Open Squash". News18. 31 December 2023. Retrieved 3 January 2024.
  16. ↑ Sportstar, Team (7 January 2024). "British Junior Open 2024: Anahat Singh loses to Elhammamy in final, settles with silver; Aryaveer Dewan bags bronze". Sportstar. Retrieved 26 January 2024.
  17. ↑ Banks, Jonty (17 January 2024). "Anahat & Abhay Singh capture titles at JSW Willingdon Little Masters & Senior Tournament". PSA World Tour. Retrieved 26 January 2024.
  18. ↑ Nag, Utathya (27 April 2024). "Anahat Singh wins singles title at Hamdard Squashters Northern Slam 2024". Olympics . Retrieved 17 June 2024.
  19. ↑ Nag, Utathya (8 June 2024). "HCL Squash Tour Chennai 2024: Anahat Singh wins third PSA title on the trot". Olympics . Retrieved 17 June 2024.
  20. ↑ Sheen, Connor (29 December 2024). "Ones to Watch in 2025". PSA Squash Tour. Retrieved 29 December 2024.
  21. ↑ "Anahat Singh aspires to be the face of India's Olympic squash dreams at LA 2028". Olympics.
  22. ↑ PTI; ThePrint (6 January 2025). "Anahat Singh lifts British Junior Open title". ThePrint. Retrieved 7 January 2025.
  23. ↑ PTI (7 January 2025). "India's Squash Star Anahat Singh Wins British Junior Open Under-17 Title". Outlook India. Retrieved 7 January 2025.
  24. ↑ "Asian Junior Team C'ships: India falls short in semi-final despite Anahat's victory". The Bridge - Home of Indian Sports. 15 February 2025. Retrieved 16 February 2025.
  25. ↑ "Asian Junior Team Squash Championships 2025: India return with two bronze medals". Olympics.
  26. ↑ "Squash prodigy Anahat Singh becomes No. 1 in Europe, Asia and India". The Times of India. ISSN   0971-8257 . Retrieved 12 January 2025.
  27. ↑ Venkatesan, S. Prasanna (21 November 2023). "Anahat Singh 'looks like a shrimp, but moves like a lion', says her coach Stephane Galifi". sportstar.thehindu.com. Retrieved 16 October 2024.
  28. ↑ Keerthivasan, K. (7 November 2024). "Playing for experience is over, now is the time to win". The Hindu. ISSN   0971-751X . Retrieved 9 November 2024.
  29. ↑ "Meet 14-year-old Anahat Singh, India's Youngest Athlete At the 2022 Commonwealth Games". Indiatimes. 30 July 2022. Retrieved 12 January 2025.
  30. ↑ Chauhan, Anukul (6 November 2024). "Road to LA 2028: Anahat Singh will be India's best bet for medal in squash". Inside Sport India. Retrieved 12 January 2025.
  31. ↑ "India at CWG 2022: Teen titan Anahat Singh breaks the mould for Games debut". Firstpost. 27 July 2022. Retrieved 12 January 2025.
  32. ↑ Venkatesan, S. Prasanna (21 November 2023). "Looks like a shrimp, but moves like a lion, says Galifi waxing eloquent on Anahat". The Hindu. ISSN   0971-751X . Retrieved 12 January 2025.
  33. ↑ Singh, Divyakriti (24 May 2023). "Anahat Singh - A teenager's squash-buckling journey to greatness". sportstar.thehindu.com. Retrieved 12 January 2025.
  34. ↑ "What makes Anahat Singh the most promising squash player in the country?". The Indian Express. 12 January 2025. Retrieved 12 January 2025.
  35. ↑ stevecubbins (6 January 2019). "British Junior Open 2019 : FINALS". SquashSite - all about Squash. Retrieved 9 November 2024.
  36. ↑ "Anahat Singh crowned British Junior Open champion". The Times of India. ISSN   0971-8257 . Retrieved 11 November 2024.
  37. ↑ stevecubbins (8 July 2019). "European Junior Open : Finals". SquashSite - all about Squash. Retrieved 9 November 2024.
  38. ↑ "Anahat Singh and Neel Joshi wins Dutch Junior Open squash". The Times of India. ISSN   0971-8257 . Retrieved 9 November 2024.
  39. ↑ stevecubbins (30 December 2019). "Scottish Junior Open : Finals Day". SquashSite - all about Squash. Retrieved 9 November 2024.
  40. ↑ "2020 Results List". British Junior Open. Retrieved 9 November 2024.
  41. ↑ "India's Anahat Singh wins Junior US Open Squash Meet". The Times of India. ISSN   0971-8257 . Retrieved 9 November 2024.
  42. ↑ "Anahat wins junior squash meet in Germany". The Times of India. ISSN   0971-8257 . Retrieved 9 November 2024.
  43. ↑ "Champions awarded of the Dutch Junior Open 2022 – Dutch Junior Open 2024" (in Dutch). 14 July 2022. Retrieved 9 November 2024.
  44. ↑ "Anahat Singh clinches U-15 British Junior Open title". The Times of India. ISSN   0971-8257 . Retrieved 9 November 2024.
  45. ↑ "Anahat wins U-19 girls' title at Scottish Junior Open squash". Press Trust Of India. Retrieved 9 November 2024.
  46. ↑ Sportstar, Team (7 January 2024). "British Junior Open 2024: Anahat Singh loses to Elhammamy in final, settles with silver; Aryaveer Dewan bags bronze". sportstar.thehindu.com. Retrieved 9 November 2024.
  47. ↑ "JSW Willingdon 2024 squash: Anahat Singh, Abhay Singh win titles". Olympics.
  48. ↑ "Anahat Singh wins singles title at Hamdard Squashters Northern Slam 2024". Olympics.
  49. ↑ "HCL Squash Tour Chennai 2024: Anahat Singh wins third PSA title on the trot". Olympics.
  50. ↑ "Dynam Cup SQ-Cube Open 2024". 26 June 2024.
  51. ↑ "Squash Info | Women's Reliance PSA Challenge 3 Tournament 2024 | Squash". www.squashinfo.com. Retrieved 8 November 2024.
  52. ↑ "Anahat Singh wins fifth PSA Tour title of the year with HCL Squash Tour Kolkata 2024 crown". Olympics.
  53. ↑ "Anahat Singh clinches Costa North Coast Open PSA Challenger title". Sportstar. 3 November 2024.
  54. ↑ "Anahat Singh's stellar season rolls on with seventh PSA Challenger title at NSW Open 2024". Olympics.
  55. ↑ "Anahat Singh wins her eighth PSA Challenger squash title at Sunil Verma Memorial Tournament 2024". Olympics.
  56. ↑ "Anahat Singh wins Western India Slam 2024 squash; clinches ninth PSA Challenger title of the year". Olympics.
  57. ↑ "Anahat wins British Junior Open squash title". The Tribune. Retrieved 7 January 2025.
  58. ↑ "TOISA 2023 Nominees: Squash stars in the fray for top honours". The Times of India. ISSN   0971-8257 . Retrieved 4 November 2024.
  59. ↑ "TOISA 2023 | Nominations". timesofindia.indiatimes.com. Retrieved 11 November 2024.
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