CHENNAI: FORTY-EIGHT hours after capturing the women's world junior squash championships in Ontario, Canada, squash prodigy Anahat Singh has already set her eyes on bigger titles. As she enters her final year in the junior circuit, she could now focus more on senior tournaments.
But her immediate focus would be to win a medal in the Asian Games and change the colour of the metal from the 2022 edition in Hangzhou. The Delhi-born squash player won bronze in both mixed doubles and team events for India.
“I don't think that there's too much pressure for me going into the Asian Games. I know that I won’t be the underdog, but there's so many of the top players who are playing this event, like Sivasangari (Subramaniam) and Satomi (Watanabe), who are (world-ranked) number six (currently five) and number seven (currently six) in the world. I have played them multiple times before and had a close game. So, I am really looking forward to playing against them,” she said in a virtual interaction facilitated by SAI on Monday.
A gold medal at the Asian Games for Anahat would secure her a spot at the LA2028 Olympics.
“The stakes are very different now and the event alone is a huge deal, whether or not Olympics was a part of the picture. But the fact that there's the Olympics, I'd say it's an added bonus. I'm just going to give it my 100 percent,” she added.
And events like these are where Anahat needs to be flawless. She felt that her physical aspects needed working on. “I think that's not always been my strong point, but I feel I am improving as I'm training more and naturally as I become older, it will keep on improving naturally,” she explained.
Now that she has conquered the top title the junior circuit has to offer, the teenager also hopes to play ‘tough matches’ against top opponents consistently. “That is important, especially in PSA platinum events, since they are quite long. You have to play almost six or seven matches just to reach the finals.
Men’s team enters pre quarters
Indian men brushed aside Brazil and the Netherlands to advance to the pre quarterfinals of the World Squash Junior Team Championships. The women's team drubbed Chinese Taipei 3-0, and will meet Malaysia next in Group 4. Anahat was rested for the women's opening round.