Anahat Singh eyes Los Angeles 2028 after World Junior crown
Anahat Singh became the first Indian to win the World Junior Squash Championship in Niagara-on-the-Lake, a report published on August 8, 2026, said, and the 18-year-old has set qualifying for the Los Angeles 2028 Olympics as her next target. She described the next two years as crucial to that bid.
Squash will make its Olympic debut at the Los Angeles 2028 Games, and Singh has identified the 2026 Asian Games as her first major opportunity, with the Continental Games offering one of the routes to Olympic qualification. “Right now, the next two years are really important for me to make sure that I can qualify for the Olympics,” Anahat told India Today in an exclusive interview. She also acknowledged there are multiple qualification pathways and said she intends to take the process step by step.
Seeded No.1 at the World Junior Championships, Singh won five of her six matches in straight games during the tournament. She opened by beating Australia’s Lilly Wilson and followed that with victories over Hong Kong China's Pui Yin Chloe Lo and Malaysia’s Doyce Ye San Lee. In the quarter-finals she defeated Egypt’s Habiba Rizk 11-7, 11-5, 6-11, 11-9 and then beat Barb Sameh 11-3, 8-11, 11-4, 11-6 in the semi-finals.
In the final Singh faced second seed Ruqayya Salem of Egypt and closed out the match 11-3, 11-7, 11-9 to claim the title. That 11-3, 11-7, 11-9 victory made her the first Indian to lift the World Junior women’s singles crown and ended Egypt’s 13-year hold on the event.
Earlier in 2026 Singh won the Squash On Fire Open, defeating then-World No. 10 Georgina Kennedy in the final. That win contributed to her becoming the youngest Asian player to break into the world’s top 20, and she is currently ranked World No.20.
Singh said she expects greater attention but plans to manage expectations at the Asian Games: “I mean, of course, there would be more expectations from others and from myself, but I think specifically at this Asian Games, there are still so many top players who are a lot better than me. I’m not expected to win it, so I think at least this time around, I still have an opportunity to go in and play my best squash without taking too much pressure,” Anahat said. She added: “With the Olympics in the picture, I think this is my best shot right now. I’m just going to go in and enjoy it as much as I can. I feel like if I take too much pressure, I don’t play too well, so I’m not going to think about it too much. I’ll just go in like it’s any other event, and if I’m able to win it, I get a place at the Olympics, so it’s just an added bonus.”
Singh’s immediate competitive focus remains the 2026 Asian Games, where a successful result would provide one recognised route toward qualification for Los Angeles 2028.