Anahat Singh wins World Junior Squash Championship and with it, becomes the first Indian athlete ever to hold that title. On Saturday in Niagara-on-the-Lake, Canada, the 18-year-old walked onto the court as India’s top seed and walked off as a world champion. If India isn’t celebrating this right now, we’re doing something wrong.
Singh dominated her final opponent, Egypt’s Ruqayya Salem, 3-0 with scores of 11-3, 11-7, and 11-9 to claim the historic title. Singh became the first Indian squash player to win the World Junior Squash Championships.
Let that sink in. Singh is not the first in a decade. She isn’t the first since some distant golden era. She is the first ever, in the entire history of Indian squash.
The victory also ended Egypt’s remarkable 13-year dominance in the women’s event, making it one of the biggest achievements in Indian squash history. Singh didn’t just win a title. She dethroned a dynasty.
Singh did it without breaking a sweat. She dropped just two games across six matches in the entire tournament, sweeping her opening three opponents without conceding a single set. That is not the performance of someone scraping through — that is a champion announcing herself to the world.
Here’s my opinion: Indian sports media is drastically underrating what just happened.
Singh surpassed Joshna Chinappa’s runner-up finish in 2005, which had remained India’s best performance at the junior world championships for over two decades. Twenty years of waiting, and an 18-year-old from Delhi ended it in straight games on a Saturday afternoon.
Singh is also not just a junior prodigy coasting on potential. She is currently ranked world No. 20 on the senior PSA Tour, having hit a career-high of No. 19 earlier this year. She’s already competing and winning against the best senior players on the planet. This junior title is a stepping stone, not a ceiling.
Last year in Cairo, Singh ended India’s 15-year wait for an individual medal at the junior world championships by winning bronze. This year, she went one better and secured gold. Year by year, tournament by tournament, this young woman is building one of the most compelling careers in Indian sport.
If there’s one number that should get Indian sports fans genuinely excited, it’s this: 2028.
Squash is set to make its Olympic debut at the Los Angeles 2028 Games. Singh will be 20 years old. She will be ranked inside the world’s top 20, at minimum, and could potentially be in the top 10. She will be walking into that Olympic debut as India’s best-ever junior world champion. The stars are aligning in a way that India hasn’t seen in this sport before.
This is not a feel-good story. This is a generational athlete on the rise, and every Indian sports fan needs to start paying attention now before the rest of the world figures it out first.
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India has a new sporting hero. She is 18 and she’s ranked top 20 in the world, Singh just became the first of her nation to win a junior world title, and she’s heading straight toward an Olympic debut in two years. The only question is whether India will wake up and give Singh the recognition she has already earned.
Singh is proving why she is regarded as one of India’s brightest young squash stars. Possessing exceptional skill, composure, and determination, she continues to shine on the international stage despite her young age. Her rapid rise and consistent performances have made her an inspiration for aspiring athletes across the country.
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