CHENNAI: “I STILL feel like I am dreaming,” were the few words Anahat Singh uttered minutes after she conquered the junior world title in Ontario on Saturday afternoon. “I’ve been losing in the semis and quarters over the last few years. I’ve always said, if anyone’s asked, ‘This tournament’s a curse,’ and I’ve never been able to play well in the event,” she went on to add.
In 2023, a year after she made history as the youngest to take part in the 2022 Commonwealth Games, Anahat fell at the quarterfinals stage, and narrowly missed out on a medal. The next year, the Delhi-born squash player again stumbled in the last eight stage, this time in Houston. In the 2025 edition, she had reached the semis, but couldn't advance further. Then the 2026 tournament came. It was going to be Anahat’s last age-group Worlds. The Indian team coach and former player Harinder Pal Sandhu, who has worked with Anahat during India assignments, explained what his ward had to go through. “She has suffered heartbreaks by narrow margins, especially at the junior Worlds. This event comes with a lot of pressure on her. Since she is ranked top 20 (in the seniors) in the world, there has always been a lot of expectations on her shoulders coming into this championship,” he told this daily from Ontario. “There is a lot of attention and spotlight on her. So, for her to, you know, stay in her mental composure, fight and win proves why she is the best junior in the world,” the coach said. That perfectly summed Anahat's road to junior world success as she does away with the 'curse.'
Harinder believed that her mental capacity to handle pressure made the difference for Anahat, when compared to her bronze medal run last year in Cairo. “Right now, the difference was her ability to handle the pressure in those important moments. For example, in the finals, you are 2-0 up and when she didn't have the lead in the third game... it was all her mental composure to stay calm and composed in the important moments. Another difference was to perform when the expectations are the highest. Squash-wise, there is always improvement that's happening continuously from her own team,” the coach explained.
While she basks in the warm afterglow of being top of the world, Anahat is not just another player Harinder will have guided in his young career as coach. “For me as a coach, what I have learnt is to have a very good connection with the player. It is very important for me to feel what she is feeling. My feelings when I am sitting beside the court cannot be different to what she is feeling. That is where I can think without asking her. I should know what is going on in her head. “I can make out from the body language, small things like her eyes, the reactions from her misplaced shots, and when she wins a point, which I am learning,” he said.
Her years of success comes with support from her parents, her coaches, Sports Authority of India and the Target Olympic Podium Scheme (TOPS), JSW, and Squash Rackets Federation of India.
‘Just went with flow’ Father on managing Anahat’s growth
Outside the court, Anahat’s life has entered a new and important phase. Her father Gursharan Singh was lost for words explaining the moment when her daughter got the winning point. “We (parents) were so engrossed in the match. It was all happening. It was like a dream, basically,” he told this daily.
Gursharan, who played youth-level field hockey, said that he and wife Tani Vadehra Singh just went with the flow. “We only wanted her to be involved in sport from the beginning. In fact, what we always used to say that sport is part and parcel of your life. It is not just only studies. It is one of the aspects which one should be always good at. So from day one, she was playing sports so we continued with it. As far as her education is concerned, my wife was more into her taking care of her studies part and I was taking care of her sports part. But it slowly developed from a source of enjoyment to a full-time thing when more tournaments came. So there was no big plan or anything. We just went with the flow,” he explained.
In her fabled career so far, this World title will remain a landmark moment. While it will remain forever a great moment in Gursharan’s life, nothing will top the day when his daughter was called up to the Indian team for the commonwealth games in 2022. "The best thing was when she was called for the trials and she was selected for the Commonwealth Games when she was called for trials at the age of 13 and playing representing India at the age of 14 was something that was phenomenal.
Anahat's debut Asian Games in Hangzhou — where she won bronze in both team and mixed doubles event — is another moment Gursharan will cherish.
"I would always rank those tournaments where you are representing India rather than playing individual events. So I would always say these three are the main achievements according to the Commonwealth Games and then winning medals at the Asian Games and now this one,” he said.
