Anahat Singh falls 1-3 to Sivasangari Subramaniam in Silicon Valley Open semi-finals

Anahat Singh lost 1-3 to Malaysia's Sivasangari Subramaniam in the semi-finals of the Silicon Valley Open in Redwood City, California, on Friday. The 18-year-old Indian, ranked World No. 15 and the reigning world junior champion, was beaten 11-5, 6-11, 4-11, 7-11 in a 37-minute match by the World No. 4.

Anahat took the opening game but Sivasangari recovered to win the next three and secure a place in the final. It was another frustrating defeat against a familiar opponent for Anahat; Sivasangari had beaten her in the women's singles final at the Asian Games earlier this month, and Saturday's result was Anahat's third loss to her in as many meetings, according to PTI.

The semi-final exit came after a breakthrough week for Anahat in California, where she reached her maiden semi-final at a Professional Squash Association (PSA) Gold-level event. She became the first Indian woman since Joshna Chinappa in 2019 to reach the last four at this level.

Anahat's run included a straight-games victory over Egypt's eight-time world champion Nour El Sherbini, the top seed and World No. 3, whom she beat 11-8, 11-8, 11-7 in 30 minutes. She followed that with a five-game quarter-final win against Egypt's Salma Hany, rallying from behind twice to prevail 4-11, 11-8, 4-11, 11-2, 11-5 in 42 minutes.

Sivasangari acknowledged Anahat's threat after the semi-final. "Anahat is very talented and so dangerous," said Sivasangari, who had defeated Anahat 3-0 in the final of the women's singles at the Asian Games. "She's definitely amongst the top girls now, and she's still so young. Coming into today's match, I started a bit slow but got myself back into it, and I'm glad with the way I finished it," she added, according to PTI.

The semi-final defeat should not overshadow Anahat's campaign, which followed her recent world junior title and the silver medal at the Asian Games. Sivasangari's victory advances her to the Silicon Valley Open final.