Mumbai: After a âchaoticâ, as she called it, concoction of playing junior events, senior events and both its World Championships while surging from outside 80 to inside 30 in the PSA rankings last year, Anahat Singh is bracing up for a significant step up.
Starting with the ongoing Sprott Tournament of Champions â one of the prestigious events on the PSA tour â Anahat will compete in three back-to-back tournaments in the US, two of them top-tier Platinum.
It marks a conscious shift in the career trajectory of the 17-year-old, from creating waves in pocketing lower-level Challenger titles aplenty over the last couple of years to throwing herself in the deep end of the pool with the worldâs best in bigger events this year.
âIâm definitely going to slow down on the Challenger events now, and play a lot more of the bigger events,â Anahat told HT.
âThis (US swing) is a good start, just getting a chance to play against the top players and getting to see where I am at the beginning of the year. It gives me an opportunity to build up over the next couple of months to see how I can improve and implement that quickly.â
The 2025 junior worlds bronze medallist made frequent deep runs in Challengers last year. Also sprinkled around it were some appearances in the bigger PSA events. Even as her rankings and level have gone through a bump up, her mindset would have to follow.
âLast year my aim was just to get into the tournaments and play a few matches. But now that Iâve been able to do that for the past couple of months, itâs changed into trying to win matches. The approach will be a lot different,â she said.
That said, Anahat is still 17, and the difference in fronting up with the worldâs elite is huge. For a player too used to winning at the junior and Challenger level â she has 14 PSA titles â and, according to her mentor Saurav Ghosal, hates losing even in practice games, Indiaâs brightest young talent may have to go through a phase where she wonât be winning as much.
âIâm aware that thereâs a chance of me losing matches, because most of the players are higher ranked than me right now. But Iâm excited, either way. Just getting onto court with them is an experience completely different than playing junior or Challenger events,â Anahat, who is supported by JSW, said. âIâd end up learning more if I lose, because then I reflect on the match a lot more than if I win.â
Sheâs won plenty of matches over the last two years, hastening her ranking rise at a pace she âwouldnât have expectedâ.
âBut the toughest part now is maintaining it. And making sure I can climb even higher, hopefully in the next couple of months,â said the current world No.31.
It will place her on a hassle-free qualification zone for the 2028 LA Olympics through the rankings route. Ensuring that, apart from improving the colour of silverware at this yearâs Asian Games of which she is a twice bronze medallist, are the big goals this year.
âJust getting my ranking as high up as possible. Because the Olympics selection criteria will be out soon, and I want to make sure that Iâm at a safe spot where Iâm not confused about whether Iâm going to be playing or not.â
