Anahat Singh rallies to reach Asian Games final, one win from Los Angeles Olympic berth

Anahat Singh, 18, rallied from two games down to beat Japan's world No. 6 Satomi Watanabe in Nagoya at the Asian Games on Saturday and advanced to the women's singles final.

Two months after becoming the first Indian to win the World Junior Squash Championships in Canada in July, Anahat produced the result that sent her into uncharted territory for Indian women's squash by reaching an Asian Games final. Her World Junior triumph over Egypt's Ruqayya Salem, a 3-0 victory, ended a run in which no non-Egyptian woman had claimed the junior title since 2010. She had previously exited the World Juniors in quarter-final and semi-final rounds in other years and said the 2026 junior win ended what she called a "curse" in her final year on the junior circuit.

Watanabe took the first two games, but Anahat fought back, saving two match points in the third before edging it 12-10. She then levelled with an 11-6 fourth-game win and dominated the decider 11-3 to complete the comeback.

The match featured a stoppage after an awkward collision in which Anahat's head struck Watanabe's shoulder; play resumed following a brief pause while she received medical attention and there was little sign of discomfort thereafter. The teenager's composure after the incident and under pressure in the third game proved decisive in turning the contest around.

India also advanced in the men's draw, with Abhay Singh, 28, reaching the men's singles final after beating Pakistan's Muhammad Irfan. No Indian man has won Asian Games gold in men's singles and Abhay has been described as having a chance to create history on Sunday; a gold would also earn him a ticket to the Los Angeles Olympics.

In mixed doubles, Joshna Chinappa and Velavan Senthilkumar went down 2-1 to Hong Kong's Tang Ming Hong and Lee Ka Yi in a semifinal. After losing the opening game 11-10, Joshna and Velavan won the second 11-2 but the Hong Kong pair took the tight third game 11-10 to reach the final, and Joshna, 40, now has six Asian Games medals overall, adding to two silvers and three bronzes.

Anahat will meet the winner of the second women's singles semifinal between World No. 5 Subramaniam Sivasangari of Malaysia and Hong Kong's Chan Sin Yuk, with the women's singles champion earning qualification for the Los Angeles 2028 Olympics, where squash will make its debut.