I want to be world No.1 one day, says rising squash star Anahat Singh

Anahat Singh, a 17-year-old squash ace, completed an impressive hat-trick of National women’s singles titles in New Delhi, despite struggling a bit with an ankle injury. Global experts are describing the New Delhi-based class XII student as the “biggest rising star in the world”, and she is living up to the tag. After reaching the finals of Bega Open in Australia recently, she broke into the top world’s 50 on the Professional Squash Association (PSA) charts and is currently at the 46th spot. As she says, her eyes are now set at the top spot.

Anahat’s medal kitty already comprises, among other metals, two gold medals at the Asian Championships and three gold at Junior Asian Championships, besides two prestigious bronze at the 2022 Asian Games. She is now eyeing an improved show at the 2026 Asiad in Japan. She has so far won 12 of the 17 PSA tournaments she has played and lost only two.

Excerpts from the exclusive interview:

You virtually had a cakewalk at the Delhi Nationals recently, dropping just one game on the way to your hat-trick of national titles, despite struggling with your ankle injury.

The injury wasn’t that serious before the Bega Open in Australia [August 13-17], but it got a little worse in my semifinals there. In the finals, I wasn’t really able to play well but I still tried as much as I could. For the Delhi Nationals [August 23-28], I had a week in between, and I didn’t really play any squash. I was just standing and hitting the ball and mainly I was just focusing on making sure that my leg was okay, giving it as much rest as I could. It freshened me up a bit.

What does the hat-trick of National titles mean to you?

It’s really great because it’s the biggest Indian tournament and all the top players play in it. It’s right at the beginning of the season, before the PSL season starts, so everyone’s looking forward to playing in this tournament and getting a good start to the year. I was really unsure coming into the tournament, so I’m glad that I was able to get it out of the way without making my injury any worse and was able to play well.

Were you under any kind of pressure from any quarter, including yourself, to complete the hat-trick before the tournament?

I didn’t think about the hat-trick; I didn’t pay attention to that. I only found out about it after the final was done.

You almost swept opponents aside at the Nationals, dropping just one game in the four matches you played.

I just wanted to win, and I wasn’t really thinking of winning 3-0 or 3-1 or 3-2. Like I said, I didn’t really train much before the Nationals for a week. My semifinals match was a tough one after almost one-and-a-half weeks [beat Tanvi Khanna 3-11, 11-5, 11-0, 11-9]. It really helped me because it gave me a lot more confidence going into the finals [where she beat Akanksha Salunkhe 11-7, 11-6, 11-4] because I knew I had played well even without too much training in the week before that.

And how did your ankle behave throughout the Nationals?

It’s a lot better now. I was doing physio every day for the past two weeks. I’ve been doing a lot of strengthening and rehab. It wasn’t too serious even in Australia; it was just a jerk, and then for that day [of the final], it hurt a lot. But as days went by, it got a lot better.

What has the doctor advised you vis-à-vis your ankle?

I’m just taking a few days off. I’m focusing a bit more on school and just taking a break from squash right now. Once I see the doctor, I’ll decide my training schedule and my tournaments.

What is going to be your practice schedule going forward?

I’m not playing any tournaments in the next month and a half. So, we need to decide what I’m going to be doing for training and, after that, what tournaments I’ll play, according to how I’m playing.

You entered the top 50 on the PSA rankings after the Bega Open. Do you really think about rankings or ignore them completely and focus on the next match/tournament at hand?

It definitely helps to set targets for yourself so you are able to train and improve yourself. But I don’t really think the rankings are a true picture of everyone because it mainly depends on how many tournaments you play. Some people whose levels are a lot better than what they might be, say among the top 100 in the world, but they might actually be playing like a top 30 or 40 player, though they wouldn’t have the chance to play many tournaments.

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So, I don’t really think it makes a huge difference, but it definitely helps setting targets for yourself, so that you can go from top 50 to 40 to 30 in the world and along with that keep improving your game. After you are in the top 40, I think all matches are really, really tough because everyone from 40 to 20 is beatable and at the same level. So, rankings definitely help but they are not the full picture of what everyone’s game is.

Do rankings motivate you?

For me, getting into the top 50 is like I might be better than top 50, but just pushing myself to win a few tournaments so that my ranking improves. And if I think to myself ‘oh, I’m better than top 50’ and I’m not going to play any tournaments now, it becomes demotivating. I think just pushing yourself to play more tournaments and win them so that your ranking could improve. So, it’s definitely a big thing.

Your tournament itinerary has been decided only until December in view of your class 12 board exams in March. What are the tournaments you are going to play until then?

I’m playing two tournaments, of $15,000 prize money each, in the USA [Boston Open from October 15-19 and the Hamilton Open from October 20-24] in the next one-and-a-half months as I’ve entered for those. Besides that, I am playing the Daly College tournament in Indore from November 18-22. In the next one or two weeks, I will decide my plan completely.

And are you simultaneously preparing for board exams as well?

I’ve not started yet because my exams are in March. So, I have to definitely keep that in mind when I’m training and going for tournaments.

Do you carry your school books with you while travelling?

I have everything on my laptop and my phone, so it’s easy.

Next year is very important as the Asian Games are there. You won two bronze medals in 2022. Are you thinking about Asian Games?

Definitely, because last time I got two bronze medals [women’s team and mixed doubles]. I think everyone’s playing a lot better now, and even my game has improved a lot since then. So, at least we can change the colour of the medal from bronze and go for gold.

The presenter at the Bega Open prize distribution ceremony termed you as “the biggest rising star in the world”. How do you feel when you hear such accolades?

Especially after I got injured and was sad after the Bega Open finals, hearing stuff like that from people is always motivating because it was not a good day for me, so it was extremely nice.

How do you motivate yourself?

I don’t really know, because I go into every match wanting to win. I’m very competitive. I want to win no matter who I’m playing and I look at the rankings almost every day to see who’s at what position and where I should be in comparison. So, one thing I definitely want to improve is my ranking and make sure that I’m at the top one day. Winning all of these tournaments at the end of the day just builds up to that. Ranking is definitely one motivation for me.