rutvick.mehta@htlive.com
Mumbai: By her own admission, Anahat Singh did not play her best squash at the British Junior Open, a prestigious junior tournament she won for the third time this week as its under-17 champion. Her father would earlier play the role of travelling coach and sparring partner who’d also have to, on such occasions, give her the mental ammunition to pull through. In Birmingham this time, Anahat had by her side among India’s most decorated squash pros — Saurav Ghosal.
“Just having him there gave me the confidence, that if anything goes wrong, he’s there to help me out,” Anahat, 16, said from London on Thursday.
Ghosal, the former top 10 pro, has turned “mentor” — as Anahat put it — to the country’s most promising young squash talent. This rather exciting partnership, more so with the 2028 LA Olympics in the backdrop, began soon after Ghosal retired from the professional PSA tour last April. With her coaches based in Prague and Mumbai, it got difficult for the Delhi-based teen who grinds on both the junior and PSA circuit to travel there. And so Ghosal and Anahat got talking.
“He (Ghosal) said he just wanted to help me out in whatever way he could,” Anahat said. “He helps me understand what I’m supposed to do, plan my tournaments, training, and other things. Whenever he’s able to come to Delhi, he spars with me too.”
And whenever he’s able to travel with Anahat for tournaments, the teen does feel the difference. Like at the British Open. “Having Saurav there helped a lot. If I was underconfident about anything, he would just be like, ‘OK I’ll come in the court and help you out’. And during matches, in those two minutes between games, having the right person by your corner and hearing the right things is one of the most important things,” Anahat said.
When Anahat, also British Open’s U-11 and U-13 champion, speaks about coming into this edition feeling a bit “scared” having lost a close final last year, you realise she’s still just 16. Yet when she adds that the defeat only further motivated her to win it this year, you get a sense of the promise she carries.
Glimpses of that also came through her 2024 season, where she transitioned to play a lot more senior PSA events. Taking some time to find her feet, she pocketed nine PSA Challenger titles, including the CCI Western India Open in Mumbai last month. Having started 2024 ranked outside the top 125, she is currently 82nd.
“Initially it is a bit hard. You have to win quite a few tournaments just to break into the top 100, and then you slowly work your way up. I’m glad I was able to win a few of the bigger tournaments towards the end of the year.”
She felt the gulf in stepping up to the PSA tour from the juniors. Juggling the two circuits also made it quite hectic.
“I’d say playing the finals of a junior event is equivalent to playing the early rounds of PSA events,” she said. “Initially, in the first few tournaments it was a bit tough, because it got tiring to play 5-6 tough matches in a week. I’m not used to that. Now I feel like I’ve understood how to go about it.”
The grind of playing select junior events and much more on the PSA tour will remain this year, and Anahat singles out winning a medal at the World Juniors as a big goal for 2025. But she also wants to keep playing more PSA tournaments and pushing higher in those ranking charts. That will also ensure the teen can test the waters in some bigger events.
“Now that I’ve reached around 80, I’ll be able to get into the bigger events and play with some top players,” she said. “At the end of the day, being in the top 10 is my main goal.”
