Blitz Bureau
NEW DELHI: Rising teenage talent Anahat Singh reached the women’s semifinals of the prestigious Junior British Open Squash Championship in Birmingham on January 5. The top seed Indian beat Egypt’s Barb Sameh (5/8) 11-4, 10-12, 11-9, 11-3 in the quarter-finals and will meet another Egyptian, Malika El Karasky (3/4), in the semifinals.
Meanwhile, Indian second seed Aryaveer Dewan reached the semifinals in the boys’ Under-17 category after edging out Egypt’s Yassin Kouritam in a five-game quarter-final, 9-11, 11-3, 10-12, 11-9, 12-10. Earlier, Anahat defeated Malak El Maraghy (Egypt, 9/16) 11-3, 11-3, 11-6 in the last-16 and Hong Kong’s Wing Kai Gladys Ho 11-1, 11-3, 11-3 in the second round, having received a bye in the first round.
Anahat, had a breakout 2025, achieving a career-best world ranking of 28 in only her second year on the Professional Squash Association (PSA) Tour and defeating two top-20 players. A few days ago, Anahat, the top seed and world No. 29, edged out former world No. 10 Joshna Chinappa 11-8, 11-13, 11-13, 11-6, 11-8 in the final of the HCL Squash Indian Tour 4. In November, Anahat Singh rose to the occasion, once again edging out the experienced Chinappa 3-2 in an exciting all-Indian women’s final at the Daly College SRFI Indian Open squash.
