Anahat Singh created history on 25 July 2026 by becoming the first Indian to win the women’s singles title at the World Junior Squash Championships, defeating Egypt’s Ruqayya Salem 3-0 in the final at Niagara-on-the-Lake, Canada. The 18-year-old from New Delhi ended Egypt’s 15-year stranglehold on the girls’ title and went one better than Joshna Chinappa, who had finished runner-up in 2005. Egypt’s Mohamad Zakaria successfully defended his men’s singles crown with a third straight world title.
Anahat Singh Scripts History in Canada
The 2026 World Junior Squash Championships were held from 20 to 31 July at the White Oaks Resort and Spa in Niagara-on-the-Lake, Ontario, Canada. The tournament began with the individual events, which ran from 20 to 25 July, followed by the team competitions, which concluded the championships.
Anahat arrived as the top seed in the women’s singles draw and justified that billing with a flawless week. She dropped only two games across her six matches, and her opening three wins came without conceding a single game.
The victory is a landmark for Indian squash. Joshna Chinappa’s runner-up finish in 2005 had stood as India’s best result at the junior worlds for more than two decades, and no Indian woman had even reached the final since then. Anahat not only ended that 21-year wait but went all the way to the title.
Her win also snapped Egypt’s hold on the girls’ title, which the country had owned continuously since 2011. Anahat became the first non-Egyptian player to lift the trophy since Amanda Sobhy of the United States won in 2010.
How Anahat Reached the Final
Anahat began her campaign with a straight-games win over Australian qualifier Lilly Wilson. She then beat Pui Yin Chloe Lo of Hong Kong, China, and Doyce Ye San Lee of Malaysia to reach the last eight without dropping a game.
The business end of the tournament turned into a run of three consecutive matches against Egyptian opponents. In the quarter-final, Anahat came from a game down to beat Habiba Rizk 3-1. She followed that with a 3-1 win over Barb Sameh in the semi-final to become the first Indian finalist in the event since Chinappa in 2005.
That semi-final was Anahat’s first win over Sameh. A year earlier, she had lost to the Egyptian at the junior worlds, and her own semi-final exit in 2025 had ended India’s 15-year wait for a junior world medal with a bronze in Cairo.
The draw also opened up favourably when Amina Orfi, the four-time champion of Egypt, became ineligible because she had crossed the age limit of 19 years. Even so, Anahat still had to beat three Egyptian players in a row, the toughest possible route in junior squash, and she came through all three.
The Final: A Dominant Display
The final was a contest between the top two seeds. Anahat, ranked world No. 20 on the senior tour, faced second seed Ruqayya Salem of Egypt and won in straight games, 11-3, 11-7, 11-9, in just 26 minutes.
Anahat raced through the opening game 11-3 and controlled the second to win it 11-7. Salem fought back in the third, moving into an 8-6 lead, but Anahat held her nerve, recovered, and sealed the match 11-9.
The scoreline did not tell the full story. Salem attacked throughout and pushed Anahat hard, but the Indian teenager’s composure and accuracy proved decisive. After the match, Anahat said she still felt like she was dreaming. She revealed that this junior world title had been the biggest hurdle of her career, as she had kept losing in the semi-finals and quarter-finals over the previous four years. Since this was her final year in the junior age group, the championship was her only chance to win the trophy, and she made it count.
With the win, Anahat surpassed the best result in the history of Indian squash at the junior worlds. She later joined the Indian team for the team event, where the women’s side reached the quarter-finals before losing to the United States.
Who Is Anahat Singh?
Anahat Singh was born on 13 March 2008 in New Delhi and took up squash after starting out in badminton. She comes from a sporting family, and her elder sister Amira Singh also played competitive squash, representing Harvard University in the United States.
A Star in the Making
Anahat announced herself on the international junior circuit at a very young age. In 2019, at just 11 years old, she won the Under-11 title at the British Junior Open, a first for India. That was followed by titles at the European, Dutch, and Scottish Junior Opens.
In 2021, she won the US Junior Open Under-15 crown, becoming the first Indian to win a US Open title in any age group. The following year brought more success, with gold at the Asian Junior Championships in the Under-15 category along with wins at the German and Dutch Junior Opens.
At 14, Anahat became the youngest Indian athlete to compete at the Commonwealth Games in Birmingham in 2022. Later that year, at the Asian Games in Hangzhou, she won two bronze medals, in the women’s team event and the mixed doubles, becoming the youngest Indian squash player to win an Asian Games medal at 15.
Success at the Senior Level
Anahat has made a rapid transition to the senior professional circuit. In February 2026, she won her first PSA Bronze-level title at the Squash on Fire Open in Washington, beating world No. 10 Georgina Kennedy of England in straight games. That result carried her into the world’s top 20 for the first time, making her the youngest Asian player ever to reach that mark, a record previously held by Malaysia’s Nicol David.
Her recent honours include a gold at the Squash World Cup in 2025, where India beat defending champions Egypt, two golds at the Asian Championships, and the titles of Young Player of the Year and Challenger Player of the Year at the PSA Awards. Anahat also made her senior World Championships debut in 2025 in Chicago, where she was the sole Indian in the women’s draw.
Why This Title Is a Milestone for Indian Squash
Squash in India is governed by the Squash Rackets Federation of India (SRFI), headquartered in Chennai, which also runs the Indian Squash Academy, a centre that has produced several of the country’s top players. The federation is affiliated with the Asian Squash Federation and with World Squash, the sport’s global governing body.
The best Indian players of the previous generation laid the groundwork for this moment. Saurav Ghosal was the first Indian man to reach the world’s top 20 and is India’s most decorated male squash player, while Joshna Chinappa became the first Indian woman to win the Asian Squash Championship in 2017. Dipika Pallikal was the first Indian woman to break into the world’s top 10. In 2014, Pallikal and Chinappa won India’s first squash gold at the Commonwealth Games in Glasgow.
Anahat’s junior world title completes a journey that began with India’s first junior world medal, a bronze by Dipika Pallikal in 2010, and Chinappa’s runner-up finish five years earlier. Indian men, meanwhile, won a second straight bronze in the team event in 2026, the first time the country has earned back-to-back podium finishes at the junior team championships.
The win matters beyond trophies. India has an emerging pool of young talent, including Abhay Singh and Velavan Senthilkumar, who are being supported through the Target Olympic Podium Scheme (TOPS). Anahat’s title shows that Indian players can compete with Egypt, the undisputed powerhouse of junior squash, and strengthens the case for the sport’s development ahead of the Olympics.
Mohamad Zakaria Defends His Men’s Title
In the men’s final, top seed Mohamad Zakaria of Egypt beat second seed Adam Hawal, also of Egypt, in straight games, 11-4, 12-10, 11-4. With the win, Zakaria became the first male player in history to win the World Junior title three times, having first won it in 2024.
Zakaria, who is ranked world No. 7 on the senior tour, had already made history in 2024 as the youngest-ever men’s World Junior champion at just 16. He added a second title in 2025 and completed a hat-trick of straight-games victories in the 2026 final, a feat he described as a huge achievement.
The final itself was a tense all-Egyptian affair. The second game went to a tie-break, where Hawal pushed Zakaria hard, and play was briefly halted after Zakaria was accidentally struck on the chin by Hawal’s racket. Zakaria recovered his composure and closed out the match in the third game.
Zakaria later helped Egypt win the World Junior Team Championship as well, extending the country’s dominance. Egypt also retained the women’s team title, with its players filling seven of the eight semi-final spots in the individual draws.
About the World Junior Squash Championships
The World Junior Squash Championships, also known as the World Juniors, is the junior world championship of the sport, conducted by World Squash, the international federation for squash. Players aged under 19 are eligible to compete.
The championships began with a men’s individual event in 1980 and a women’s event in 1981. Until 2009, the tournament was held once every two years; since then it has been staged annually. The 2026 edition saw 185 players aged 18 and under compete in the individual draws, followed by team events featuring 40 squads from 24 nations.
The event has been dominated by Egypt. Egyptian players have won the women’s title in 17 editions, including every edition from 2011 until Anahat’s win in 2026, and the men’s title in 16 editions. Only one Indian, Dipika Pallikal, had previously won an individual junior world medal, a bronze in 2010, before Anahat’s gold.
World Squash, the governing body, was founded in 1967 as the International Squash Rackets Federation and is headquartered in Hastings, England. India was among its founding member nations. The federation rebranded itself as World Squash in 2025 in the run-up to the sport’s Olympic debut.
Squash’s Road to the Los Angeles 2028 Olympics
Squash will make its Olympic debut at the Los Angeles 2028 Games, after the International Olympic Committee (IOC) approved the sport for inclusion in October 2023. Squash had been considered for the Olympics on several earlier occasions but had never made the cut.
At LA 2028, squash will feature men’s and women’s singles events, with 16 players in each draw. Matches will be played in an all-glass court at the Universal Studios lot in Los Angeles, a move designed to showcase the sport in a visually striking setting.
The sport’s history in India runs long. Squash was introduced to the country by the British during the colonial era, and the first courts were built at clubs such as the Bombay Gymkhana in the late 19th century. The Indian men’s national team has competed at the World Team Championships since 1967.
For Anahat, the Olympic debut is the next goal. She has already declared that the 2026 junior world championship was her last as a junior, as she turns 19 in March 2027 and would cross the age limit. Her immediate targets include the 2026 Asian Games in Aichi-Nagoya, Japan, and a place in India’s team for Los Angeles, where she is widely seen as India’s strongest medal hope in squash.
Key Takeaways
- Anahat Singh became the first Indian to win the World Junior Squash Championships women’s singles title on 25 July 2026 at Niagara-on-the-Lake, Canada.
- She defeated Egypt’s Ruqayya Salem, the second seed, 3-0 with scores of 11-3, 11-7, 11-9, ending Egypt’s 15-year hold on the girls’ title.
- Joshna Chinappa’s runner-up finish in 2005 and Dipika Pallikal’s bronze in 2010 were the previous best Indian results at the junior worlds.
- Anahat, born on 13 March 2008 in New Delhi, is ranked world No. 20 and became the youngest Asian player to enter the world’s top 20 in February 2026.
- Egypt’s Mohamad Zakaria won the men’s singles title for a third straight time, becoming the first male player to win the junior world title three times.
- Squash will make its Olympic debut at the Los Angeles 2028 Games, where 16 men and 16 women will compete in singles events.
- The Squash Rackets Federation of India (SRFI), headquartered in Chennai, governs the sport in India and is affiliated with World Squash.
