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India's prodigious squash talent Anahat Singh has grabbed headlines pretty often in recent times, with her contributions to the Asian Games medal tally being some of her biggest achievements at the age of fifteen.
Anahat added another feather to her cap, becoming the second-youngest player ever to win a Squash National Championship. Touted as legend Joshna Chinappa's successor, Anahat is all set to perhaps go past her idol.
One of the striking features of Anahat's game is her ability to stay calm and composed, even when the match is not in her favor. It is this trait of hers that sets her apart from her opponents.
Anahat Singh and Tanvi Khanna were crucial in India's women's team bronze medal win at the 2023 Asian Games. Anahat also clinched the mixed doubles bronze at the event alongside Abhay Singh.
Sportskeeda caught up with Anahat Singh, in an interaction where the 15-year-old opened up on her Asian Games campaign, her opinion on squash being included in the Olympics, and how the sport can be popularized in India.
Read excerpts from the interview below:
Q: Returning with two medals in your debut Asian Games outing. How was the entire experience?
Anahat Singh: The experience is completely priceless. Just going and staying at Asian Games village and getting to interact with all the top players from different sports and from different countries. Really great getting to go there and come back home with two medals.
Q: Representing India at such a young age, how do you handle the expectations, the nervousness, and the excitement?
Anahat Singh: I'd say the senior tournament like Asian Games, I think it's not really that stressful. There's not much pressure on me because I'm just going there to do my best. I don't really expect a lot out of myself. And the fact that I got to get two medals at the Asian Games - it's always an athlete's dream to get a medal at a big Games.
Q: We received some wonderful news recently that squash has been added to the Olympics for 2028. What was your first reaction when you came across this news?
Anahat Singh: I couldn't have been happier. Like during the whole of Asian Games, we were all discussing that. We were all discussing how amazing it would be for the sport if it got selected and the fact that it is now right after India did so well at the Asian Games and got so many medals for the country.
I feel like it's really good for the sport in general. I'm really looking forward to playing it and just going there and getting to play in the Olympics. It's always an athlete's dream.
Q: What is one moment you will cherish from the Asian Games?
Anahat Singh: I have to say like two because I got two medals. So just the two moments when we found out that we're going to be in the semis and that we're going to be guaranteed a medal. I feel like that has to be one of the two best moments of the relationship.
If I had to pick, I'd say that I was expecting the team event more than I was the doubles and just the doubles was a closer match than how we had achieved the team event. We were really smooth into the semi-finals, but the doubles, we had a close match in the quarters. So I feel like I'd have to say I was more excited about the doubles.
Q: What needs to be done to make the sport more popular?
Anahat Singh: I think after the Asian Games especially, a lot of people have started talking a lot about squash because it was one of the sports with the highest number of medals in India.
Now, especially, it wasn't in the Olympics, so it wasn't really widely known that much, and people weren't really talking about it. But now that it is in the Olympics, we just have a much higher chance of getting medals in the big games now that India is doing really well in squash. So I feel that compared to other sports right now, I think it'll take some time for India to get the popularity.
Q: If you had the power to change one rule in squash, what would that be?
Anahat Singh: In squash, we have lets and strokes, which sometimes get a bit controversial and the players start fighting with the referee. But I feel like if that wasn't there, a lot of the fighting in the court would stop. So I feel like if I could remove one thing, I would remove all those decisions.
Q: There are a lot of comments on social media, some hilarious ones and some that praise all that you have achieved at such a young age. Do you get an opportunity to read those?
Anahat Singh: I don't really use social media that much. My parents aren't really keen on me using it because sometimes it gets too much in the fact that I have to study and play squash.
But I have definitely heard about all of this and all the comments. People keep sending me screenshots and forwarding it to me and I mean, I find it really interesting when people actually comment things like that. I mean, yeah, I do sometimes get a good laugh out of it.
