Anahat Singh stuns Sana Ibrahim to reach Squash on Fire Open semifinals

Indian teenager Anahat Singh fought back from two games down to defeat Egypt’s Sana Ibrahim in the Squash on Fire Open quarterfinals in Washington. She will face Sabrina Sobhy in the semifinals, while Veer Chotrani lost to England’s Declan James

Washington: Teenage star Anahat Singh fought back from 0-2 down to beat No 2 seed Sana Ibrahim and reach the Squash on Fire Open semifinals on Saturday.

The Indian world No 31 and seventh seed clawed her way back into the contest, overturning a 6-5 deficit in both the third and fourth games, to edge out Egyptian world No 17 8-11, 8-11, 11-7, 11-8, 11-7 in the PSA Bronze-level event.

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Anahat, 17, has already made a mark on the PSA Tour this season, most notably reaching the semifinals of the Silver-level Canadian Women’s Open in October, climbing inside the world’s top 30 soon afterwards.

She is now one win away from her biggest career final, but had to do things the hard way in Washington D.C., falling two games behind to Ibrahim in the day’s penultimate match.

With a full crowd watching — including her coach Greg Gaultier and plenty of vocal support — Singh clawed her way back, showing composure at crucial moments and continuing to play her fluid, attacking style.

At 6-7 down in the fifth, she had little room for error, but reeled off the next five points to close out the comeback win, turning to the crowd with a huge roar of emotion.

She will now face in-form Sabrina Sobhy for a place in the final, after the American ended the impressive run of unseeded Jana Swaify with a 3-0 win.

Meanwhile, Veer Chotrani lost 8-11, 11-6, 14-12, 11-9 to sixth seed Declan James of England in the men’s quarterfinal.