Anahat Singh has done something no Indian squash player has ever managed. The 18-year-old beat Egypt’s Ruqayya Salem 3-0 in the final of the World Junior Squash Championships on Saturday, becoming the first Indian to win the title.
The scoreline, 11-3, 11-7, 11-9, tells only part of the story. Egyptian players had won this title every year since 2011. Top-seeded Anahat, India’s No. 1, ended that streak without dropping a single game to her.
A final built on complete control
The match was billed as a clash between the top two seeds, and Anahat lived up to that billing from the first point. She took an early lead and never let Salem, the second seed from a country with arguably the deepest bench in world squash, back into the contest.
Her run to the final was just as one-sided. She dropped only two games across all six matches at the tournament, sweeping her first three opponents in straight games before beating Egypt’s Habiba Rizk 3-1 in the quarter-finals and Barb Sameh 3-1 in the semis. Beating three Egyptian players back to back, in a sport Egypt has dominated for over a decade, was an achievement in itself. Doing it and then winning the title was another thing altogether.
To understand how significant Saturday’s win is, consider this: the last player who wasn’t Egyptian, or of Egyptian origin, to win the girls’ junior world title was American Amanda Sobhy, back in 2010. Every champion since has come from Egypt.
Anahat’s win also eclipses India’s previous best showing at the tournament. Joshna Chinappa reached the final in 2005, a result that stood as the country’s high-water mark at the junior worlds for more than two decades until Saturday.
From bronze to gold in a year
This wasn’t Anahat’s first taste of the podium at this event. Last year in Cairo, she won bronze, ending a 15-year wait for an individual medal for India at the junior worlds. She had made clear afterward that she wanted a different colour next time.
She got exactly that, and did it in commanding fashion rather than by narrow margins.
Anahat had said earlier this year that this World Championship would be her last junior tournament. She has already transitioned to the senior circuit and sits inside the world’s top 20, a remarkable position for a teenager still eligible for junior events.
She made her senior India debut at just 14, at the 2022 Commonwealth Games, and went on to win medals at the Asian Games at 16. With squash set to make its Olympic debut at the Los Angeles 2028 Games, she has increasingly delivered under the spotlight, including back-to-back India Open titles in Mumbai.
Curated news reports, in-depth analysis, and special features by India’s Opinion editorial team.
