Anahat Singh eyes Asian Games gold after historic junior squash triumph

World junior squash champion Anahat Singh is aiming to upgrade her Asian Games medal colour at Aichi-Nagoya next month. The 18-year-old says she will work harder while focusing on senior-level challenges and her ultimate dream of winning an Olympic medal for India

New Delhi: World junior squash champion Anahat Singh is ready to go the extra mile to change the colour of the Asian Games medals she won last time when she competes at the Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games in Japan next month.

The 18-year-old Anahat had won a bronze each in the mixed doubles and team events at the Asian Games in Hangzhou, China, held in 2023. She had partnered with Abhay Singh in mixed doubles and was part of the team event squad alongside Joshna Chinappa, Dipika Pallikal and Tanvi Khanna.

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“I really, really want to change the colour of the medal. I will train hard for the next month I have left until the Asian Games and do everything I can, hopefully, to change the colour of the medal and do better than I did last time,” Anahat told PTI on the sidelines of a felicitation ceremony here on Monday.

She said she was not basking in the glory of winning the junior world championship gold for too long as there was little time left to prepare for the Asian Games, beginning September 19.

“It’s been almost two weeks since the tournament ended, so it’s definitely begun to sink in a little bit. But now, I need to focus on the Asian Games and I have a few tournaments before that as well, so I’m trying to forget about the last event.

“Of course, I will carry it with me and everything that I’ve learned from it, but focus on the other events coming up and just focus on those and get on with this event,” she said.

Focus shifts from junior success to senior challenges

The youngster said life has not changed much since winning the world junior title.

“Honestly, not so much. It’s not really changed that much. I mean, I still have to play the same events. This is just one small thing. I still have so much that I want to achieve and so much I want to play.

“I’m only 18 years old. I still have a long time of squash ahead of me. It’s just something that I’ll carry on with me and something that will give me a bit more confidence going into the next few months, knowing that I’ve won this event,” she observed.

Asked what aspects she needs to add to her repertoire while making the transition to the senior category, Anahat said there was still a lot for her to learn.

“There’s still so much for me to learn, a lot in the physicality aspect, in technique and learning a few new things. A lot of the games that I play is a junior game and I need to transition.

“I don’t really know exactly what. But there’s so much. There are like a hundred things I need to work on. And I’m just going to take it one step at a time,” she noted.

Olympic medal remains ultimate dream

Anahat said her immediate target is to win gold at the Asian Games, while her ultimate aim is to win an Olympic medal for India.

“I’d say the first step is to qualify for the Olympics. So, right now, my main aim is just to think about that. But of course, it would be my dream to hopefully win a medal for India (in the Olympics) as well.

“And I’m going to do everything I can. Every event I play, every training session, ultimately leads up to the Olympics,” she emphasised.

PV Sindhu inspired badminton journey before squash switch

Anahat pointed out that she first started playing badminton, inspired by PV Sindhu, before taking up squash because of her elder sister.

“I started playing badminton when I was almost five years old. So, I’ve been playing sports for a very long time. My elder sister used to play squash and I switched to squash a couple of years later when I was eight years old. So, I got into it a little bit because of her.

“When I played badminton, I was very inspired by PV Sindhu because I grew up watching many of her events that took place in Delhi. And I used to go to city courts and watch a lot of her tournaments and matches.

“In squash, I’d say all of my seniors, Joshna, Deepika, Sourav, I’ve grown up watching them on TV. I’ve grown up being surrounded by them at big events like Commonwealth and Asian Games and I’ve got to learn so much from them. So, in squash, they’re my biggest inspiration,” she signed off.