3 min readFeb 2, 2026 10:04 PM IST
First published on: Feb 2, 2026 at 10:00 PM IST
Indian teenage squash sensation Anahat Singh created history by becoming the youngest ever asian player to enter the World Top 20 in PSA rankings beating the previous record of eight time World champion Nicol David.
Anahat’s entry to top 20 came after she clinched her first-ever PSA Bronze-level title in Washington defeating world number 10 Georgina Kennedy of England. Anahat had superb run in the Fire Open and went on a giant killing run defeating world number 17 in the quarterfinal and world number 23 in the semifinal.
However, her best was saved for the final where she upset top seed Kennedy in straight games 12-10, 11-5, 11-7. The triumph marked the biggest title of the 15-year-old’s career and her 15th overall on the PSA Tour, achieved in just 26 tournaments.
“I’m extremely happy,” Singh told Squash TV. “Coming into this event, I played the British Junior Open a few weeks back and I didn’t play too well. I knew in between these events – ToC as well – I had some time to train, and I did as much as I possibly could to get the best out of my game. I knew I wanted to do well in these events, get my ranking up and also put on a performance, and I’m glad I was able to do that this time.”
With her maiden PSA title, Anahat jumped 12 places and created history by becoming the youngest Asian to enter the top 20.
Transition from junior to senior
The teenager transitioned from junior level to senior level and medalled at the Asian Games 2023 and 2022 Commonwealth Games before turning to the PSA events.
Talking about transitioning to senior level, Anahat had told The Indian Express in August during the nationals about the difference between both levels. “There is a huge difference in the levels but it has been a decent transition for me. I am still learning quite a lot through it.Before I started going on the PSA tour, I played at CWG and Asiads and it helped me in the transition. At these events, I saw how these top 20 players play and deal with high pressure situations. At that time, I had no chance against them but over the past years, my confidence has been growing. Playing at multi-sports tournaments helped me understand what my level was and how much work I needed to do,” explained Anahat.
Mentored by former Indian national Saurav Ghoshal, Anahat is slowly making the transition to the senior level but is looking to take one step at a time.
Anahat Singh (L) defeated Pooja Arthi in straight sets at the Squash Nationals on Tuesday. (Express Photo | Pritish Raj) 
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