Indian teenager Anahat Singh enhanced her reputation as one of the best young talents in squash as she won a second British Junior Open title (girls Under 15 category) on Sunday.
And the 14-year-old didn’t just win the title, she dominated her way to the top of the podium, dropping just one game combined in the four matches she played.
That game happened to be in the final against Egypt’s Sohaila Hazem as the Indian won 11-8, 8-11, 11-7, 11-5 in 28 minutes.
Anahat Singh was only one of the two non-Egyptian title winners across the five different female categories on Sunday. England’s Finnlay Withington and Egypt’s Amina Orfi won the U19 titles at the University of Birmingham.
This was also Singh’s second British Junior Open title, having won the girls Under-11 section in the 2019 edition. She had finished runner-up in 2020 in the girls under-13 category.
The British Junior Open was being held after a two-year break due to Covid-19.
The teenager had made headlines in 2022 during the Commonwealth Games, not just as the youngest member of the Indian contingent and the youngest of all squash athletes but also for winning a round in the singles event before giving a good fight to Emily Whitlock, the second seed.
Entering CWG 2022, she was the only Indian female squash player to have won the US junior open title and in addition to that had also won the British, German and Dutch junior open and Asian championship trophies.
Anahat started off with badminton but picked squash in the footsteps of her elder sister.
“I was first drawn to it because I loved the noise of the ball hitting the wall,” Anahat Singh had told World Squash during Birmingham 2022. “I love exploring different sports but it is squash I love more than any other. I am pretty fast around the court and I don’t give up, even if the score is against me.”
Anahat Singh’s route to the title:
Round 1: Bye
Round 2: df. Harriet Broadbridge 11-2, 11-2, 11-2
Round 3: df. Wing Kai Gladys Ho 11-1, 11-1, 11-1
Round 4: df. Harleein Tan 11-7, 11-0, 11-2
Semifinal: df. Malak Samir 11-5, 11-4, 11-2
Final: df. Sohaila Hazem 11-8, 8-11, 11-7, 11-5
Anahat Sigh
Score, Girls Under 15 final: [1] Anahat Singh (Ind) 3-1 [3/4] Sohaila Hazem (Egy) 11-8, 8-11, 11-7, 11-5 (28 minutes)
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