Mumbai: For a sport that has only had a handful of Indians get to where she’s at currently, Anahat Singh is pretty nonchalant about being among the world’s best 20 female pros at age 18.
“I think this was the easier part,” she said, sitting back for a chat after partaking in numerous photos and videos as the women’s champion of the home PSA event.
She nods her head when a sporting adage is brought up – it is more difficult to stay on top than to get there. Not that she, or her mentor Saurav Ghosal who has gone a few levels higher as a former top-10 pro, think this is where she is likely to stay.
“We genuinely don’t believe that this is the ceiling,” said Ghosal.
Anahat’s surge into the elite over the past year, from being ranked outside 80 in January 2025 to 20 now, had been anticipated by many in Indian squash. Yet on the PSA tour, where she started playing more regularly only last year while also juggling junior and Challenger events, the Indian teen carried a novelty factor against top players who hadn’t seen a lot of her game.
Anahat took the fast lane riding the novelty wheel. That was the easier bit, as she puts it. The challenge ahead – especially in the backdrop of the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics – will be to keep the ride going even as the unknown edge wanes and her clashes with top 10-20 players become more routine.
“They didn’t really know what to expect, because I was new to the circuit,” said Anahat. “Now everyone’s definitely looking at my games and studying them as much as possible. I need to be ready for that.”
The first couple of months this year, when Anahat chose to play some higher-level tournaments in the US, gave an indication of that, before the PSA Copper JSW Indian Open gave her a chance to see “where I am against players who are ranked a little lower than me.”
At a top-tier Platinum event in Chicago, Anahat went down from two games up against 10th-ranked Belgian Tinne Gilis, whom the Indian had beaten in their first meeting in Canada last year.
On the flipside, Anahat is also learning to turn the tables. At the preceding Bronze event in Washington, which Anahat won for her biggest career title thus far, she went past two opponents who had beaten her last year – world No.17 Egyptian Sana Ibrahim in the quarters and world No.9 Georgina Kennedy of England in the final.
“I need to keep evolving my game and making sure it doesn’t get too predictable,” said Anahat. “And I think I have the game to keep changing it and making sure that I’m able to beat the top players.”
The fundamentals of that game revolve around strong rallying and touch game. The backhand has been her more favoured shot while the forehand has improved. Stepping up on the T and volleying a lot more, as Ghosal analysed she will require at the top level, will ensure she cuts the ball earlier and ramps up the intensity in rallies.
Her physicality can develop with age. Avoiding mid-match fluctuations – Anahat lost to Gilis and No.7 Satomi Watanabe after being two games up in the US block – can make a difference against the top-10 players whose levels are often highly consistent in matches.
These are strengths and room for improvement that will continue to be worked on. For Ghosal, part of her team with former French pro Gregory Gaultier and ex-Italian pro Stephane Galifi, adding new things to her repertoire will be a big part of that evolving process.
“There is a novelty factor at the top end of the game right now, and that’s not going to be there (for Anahat) even going into next season,” said Ghosal, who was in Mumbai along with Galifi guiding her every match.
“But, there are so many things she can be better at. That way we’re in a good space because there’s so much more to do, and so much more that can be added. Hopefully, the novelty factor in terms of what we keep adding will stay.”
That will be critical over the next couple of years as the teen competes a lot more against the cream of world squash. More so if the Indian has to rely on the rankings route to qualify for the Olympics in two years’ time (this year’s Asian Games brings the first opportunity). A dip in rankings will only complicate the route, and a hike will only strengthen it.
Which is why Anahat doesn’t want to “get too excited about being in the top 20”. There’s still plenty of room to build, evolve, and push.
“She, and everyone on the team, we’re only looking at how she’s going to go higher from here and not stay here,” said Ghosal.
