Overview
- Anahat Singh won the World Junior Championship in Niagara-on-the-Lake, Canada, on Tuesday, beating Ruqayya Salem in the final and defeating three Egyptian opponents on her way to the title.
- She has formally deferred her planned enrollment at Harvard and taken a gap year to prioritise training and competition ahead of the Aichi Nagoya Asian Games and the 2028 Los Angeles Olympic cycle.
- Singh is already competing on the senior tour, sits near world No. 20, and will train under former world champion Gregory Gaultier, India’s Saurav Ghosal and national coaches with backing from JSW Sports and the Sports Authority of India.
- A gold medal at the Asian Games would give her an automatic place at Los Angeles 2028, though other qualification routes remain over the next two years, so the Aichi Nagoya event is a clear, high-value target.
- Her win breaks a long run of Egyptian dominance at junior level and could boost funding, coaching attention and participation in Indian squash while forcing Anahat to balance short-term sporting gain with postponed academic plans.