# Anahat Singh

Anahat Singh (born 13 March 2008) is an Indian squash player and a member of the national team. She's an Asian Games and Asian Championships double-bronze medalist. Singh is ranked 77th in the world, as of March 2025. She is the youngest national champion, the youngest Indian to win a medal at the Asian Games, and the youngest athlete to represent the nation at the Commonwealth Games. In 2024, Singh won nine tour titles, more than any woman in a single year since Nicol David in 2010.

## Early life

Singh was born in Delhi on 13 March 2008 to Tani Vadehra and Gursharan Singh. While her mother is an interior designer, her father is a lawyer. Both her parents used to play field hockey. Inspired by P. V. Sindhu, a six year old Singh started playing badminton.
She used to accompany her sister Amira who played squash. After playing a few squash tournaments where she performed well, she grew fond of it and switched to the sport.

## Career
### Early beginnings (2019–2022)

Singh first rose to prominence after winning the U11 title at the British Junior Open in 2019. This was followed by the European Junior Open, the Dutch Junior Open and the Scottish Junior Open titles the same year. In 2021, she won the US Junior Open title by defeating Jayda Marei from Egypt. The next year, she won the German Junior Open, the Dutch Junior Open and the U15 title at the Asian Junior Championships. At the age of 14, she was the youngest to represent India at the 2022 Commonwealth Games.

### British Junior Open title (2023)

Singh started off her year by winning the 2023 edition of British Junior Open in the U15 category after beating Egypt's Sohaila Hazem. In August, she won the U17 title at the Asian Junior Championships held in Dalian, China. She then won two bronze at the 2022 Asian Games in both the mixed doubles category with Abhay Singh and in the women's team event. Singh became the senior national champion in November after Tanvi Khanna retired in the finals due to an injury. She ended the year on a high by winning the U19 title at the Scottish Junior Open by defeating Robyn McAlpine.

### 9 tour titles, breaking into top 90 (2024)

In January, Singh finished as a runner-up in Girls U17 category at the British Junior Open after a loss to Nadien Elhammamy. In the same month, she won her first PSA Tour title at the JSW Willingdon LMS Tournament after defeating Japan's Erisa Sano Herring 11-4, 11-3 and 11-7. This was followed by a win at the Hamdard Squashters Northern Slam in April where she defeated Korean Hwayeong Eum 11-6, 11-4, 11-5. Her third title came in June at the HCL Squash Tour Chennai on defeating compatriot Rathika Seelan 11-5, 11-3, 11-3. She then reached another final at the Dynam Cup SQ-Cube Open but gave her opponent Ruqayya Salem from Egypt a walkover due an injury. Singh then won the Reliance PSA Challenge 3 against Sri Lankan Chanithma Sinaly scoring 11-0, 11-1, 11-4.
Her fifth title was HCL Squash Tour Kolkata where she defeated Filipino Jemyca Aribado 11-5, 11-3, 11-7. Then, she won Costa North Coast Open by defeating Akari Midorikawa from Japan by 11-6, 11-6, 11-7. Next, she won the NSW Open against Hong Kong's Helen Tang with a score of 8-11, 11-6, 11-3, 11-4. The Sunil Verma Memorial saw her defeating fellow Indian Shameena Riaz 11-4, 11-3, 11-1. Singh's last title of the year was the Western India Slam where she defeated India's #1 and her higher ranked fellow Akanksha Salunkhe 11-8, 11-8, 11-8. Thus, in 2024, she won nine tour titles, becoming the first woman to do so in a single year since Nicol David back in 2010. She had 38 wins out of 40 matches, 31 of them with a dominant 3–0 scoreline. She was featured in PSA Squash Tour's list of players to watch out for. Singh also broke into the top 100 and jumped 51 total spots to reach her highest world ranking of 82.

### (2025)

Singh started off the year by winning the title British Junior Open at the 2025 edition. She defeated Egyptian Malika Elkaraksy with a score of 4-11, 11-9, 6-11, 11-5, 11-3. This was her third title at the tournament. At the 2025 Asian Junior Team Championships, she won every match without losing a single set. Due to her teammates losing their matches, the team settled for a bronze.

## Coaching history

At the start of her career, Singh was coached by Amjad Khan and Ashraf Hussein, followed by Ritwick Bhattacharya. Since a couple of years, she coached by both Stéphane Galifi and Grégory Gaultier. Indian squash icon Saurav Ghosal is her mentor and helps her decide which tournaments to play.
| Years | Coach |
| | Amjad Khan |
| | Ashraf Hussein |
| | Ritwick Bhattacharya |
| 2023–present | Stéphane Galifi |
| 2023–present | Grégory Gaultier |
| 2024–present | Saurav Ghosal |

## Titles and finals

| Year | Tournament | Opponent | Result | Score |
| 2019 | British Junior Open | Whitney Wilson | Win (1) | 3–1 (13-11, 11-9, 7-11, 11-9) |
| 2019 | European Junior Open | Avery Park | Win (2) | 3–0 (11-7, 11-3, 11-4) |
| 2019 | Dutch Junior Open | Lauren Baltayan | Win (3) | 3–2 (11-6, 11-7, 9-11, 7-11, 11-8) |
| 2019 | Scottish Junior Open | Keertty Haridharan | Win (4) | 3–0 (11-1, 11-1, 11-1) |
| 2020 | British Junior Open | Amina Orfi | Loss (1) | 0–3 (11-0, 11-1, 11-4) |
| 2021 | US Junior Open | Jayda Marei | Win (5) | 3–1 (11-9 11-5 8-11 11-5) |
| 2022 | German Junior Open | Malak Samir | Win (6) | 3–0 (11-1, 11-4, 11-5) |
| 2022 | Dutch Junior Open | Malak Samir | Win (7) | 3–0 (11-4 11-7 11-2) |
| 2023 | British Junior Open | Sohaila Hazem | Win (8) | 3–1 (11-8, 8-11, 11-7, 11-5) |
| 2023 | Scottish Junior Open | Robyn McAlpine | Win (9) | 3–0 (11-6, 11-1, 11-5) |
| 2024 | British Junior Open | Nadien Elhammamy | Loss (2) | 2–3 (7-11, 13-11, 12-10, 5-11, 11-9) |
| 2024 | JSW Willingdon LMS | Erisa Sano Herring | Win (10) | 3–0 (11-4, 11-3, 11-7) |
| 2024 | Hamdard Squashters Northern Slam | Hwayeong Eum | Win (11) | 3–0 (11-6, 11-4, 11-5) |
| 2024 | HCL Squash Tour Chennai | Rathika Seelan | Win (12) | 3–0 (11-5, 11-3, 11-3) |
| 2024 | Dynam Cup SQ-Cube Open | Ruqayya Salem | W/O | – |
| 2024 | Reliance PSA Challenge 3 | Chanithma Sinaly | Win (13) | 3–0 (11-0, 11-1, 11-4) |
| 2024 | HCL Squash Tour Kolkata | Jemyca Aribado | Win (14) | 3–0 (11-5, 11-3, 11-7) |
| 2024 | Costa North Coast Open | Akari Midorikawa | Win (15) | 3–0 (11-6, 11-6, 11-7) |
| 2024 | NSW Open | Helen Tang | Win (16) | 3–1 (8-11, 11-6, 11-3, 11-4) |
| 2024 | Sunil Verma Memorial | Shameena Riaz | Win (17) | 3–0 (11-4, 11-3, 11-1) |
| 2024 | Western India Slam | Akanksha Salunkhe | Win (18) | 3–0 (11-8, 11-8, 11-8) |
| 2025 | British Junior Open | Malika Elkaraksy | Win (19) | 3–2 (4-11, 11-9, 6-11, 11-5, 11-3) |
Note: Table shows international events and does not include national level title wins

## Awards and nominations

| Year | Award | Category | Result |
| 2023 | Times of India Sports Awards | Special Recognition in Squash | Won |
| 2023 | Times of India Sports Awards | Emerging Sportsperson of the Year | Nominated |
| 2024 | Indian Sports Honours | Sportswoman of the Year | Nominated |
| 2025 | Times of India Sports Awards | Squash Player of the Year Female | Won |