World Junior Squash C'ships: Anahat Singh ends 15-year medal drought for India, wins bronze

India's Anahat Singh made history at the 2025 World Junior Squash Championships, claiming a bronze medal in the women’s singles event, the country's first in 15 years. The 17-year-old from Delhi battled hard but lost 11-6, 14-12, 12-10 in the semi-final against Egypt’s Nadien Elhammamy on Friday.

Anahat’s bronze is a monumental moment for Indian squash, as she becomes the first Indian girl since Dipika Pallikal in 2010 to reach the podium at the junior worlds. It also marks a long-awaited breakthrough for the prodigious teenager, who had fallen in the quarterfinals three years in a row, each time to an Egyptian opponent.

Seeded second in the tournament, Anahat had stormed into the semi-finals with a straight-games win over Malika Elkaraksy of Egypt (11-6, 13-11, 11-5), exorcising the ghosts of her past exits. Her quarter-final performance was a showcase of her maturity and mental toughness, particularly in the second game, where she saved two game balls before edging ahead.

Despite the narrow semi-final loss to Elhammamy, a rematch of their 2024 quarter-final clash, Anahat stood tall as one of the few non-Egyptians to crack the top four in the women’s draw this year. Each of the three games saw her fight toe-to-toe with her opponent, but the margins ultimately went against her.

Already ranked No. 54 on the PSA World Tour, the highest among Indian women, Anahat’s medal in Cairo completes the junior chapter of her career with one of its most coveted honours.