Anahat Singh wins maiden PSA Bronze-level squash crown in Washington

Teenager Anahat Singh claimed her maiden PSA Bronze-level title at the Squash on Fire Open in Washington, defeating World No 10 Georgina Kennedy in straight games. The 17-year-old Indian star has now won 15 PSA Tour titles, underscoring her rising stature

Washington: Teenage sensation and seventh seed Anahat Singh defeated top seed and World No 10 Georgina Kennedy of England 12-10, 11-5, 11-7 in the Squash on Fire Open final, earning her first PSA Bronze-level title.

This is the biggest title of Anahat’s career and her 15th overall on the PSA Tour, where the Indian World No 31 has competed in 26 tournaments.

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Kennedy had beaten Anahat 3-0 in their only previous encounter at this season’s Canadian Women’s Open, and she made a strong start here too, bringing up two game balls at 10-8 in the first.

But Anahat, displaying the free-flowing squash she has shown all week, reeled off four points in a row to close out the game, letting out a big scream of emotion before heading off court.

She was 3-2 down in game two, but from that moment on barely took a step back, mixing her game with attacking boasts, sharp kills and well-placed lobs. A run of four straight points moved her 6-3 in front, and she lost only two more points in the game, moving within one game of glory.

A fast start to game three was key, and it was Anahat who charged out of the blocks, moving 5-1 in front in less than two minutes. That soon became 10-6 and four match balls. While the first slipped away, she sealed victory with a clinical forehand boast winner.

“I’m extremely happy. I knew I wanted to do well in these events, get my ranking up and also put on a performance, and I’m glad I was able to do that this time,” Anahat said after her victory.

The 17-year-old reached her maiden PSA Bronze-level final with a 3-1 win over US World No 23 Sabrina Sobhy (11-9, 11-3, 9-11, 11-5) in the semifinals. Earlier, she staged a remarkable comeback from 2-0 down to defeat No 2 seed Sana Ibrahim (8-11, 8-11, 11-7, 11-8, 11-7).

Anahat has been in excellent form this season, reaching the semi-finals of the Silver-level Canadian Women’s Open, finishing runner-up at the British Junior Open Under-19, helping India win the first-ever Squash World Cup, and claiming the Daly College Cup PSA title in Indore.

At the British Junior Open, she lost a tight four-game final to France’s Lauren Baltayan (9-11, 11-7, 3-11, 9-11), marking her ninth BJO final across different age groups and underscoring her rising stature on the PSA Tour.