On Tuesday, January 6, India’s young squash prodigy Anahat Singh finished her campaign at the 2026 British Junior Open in Birmingham as runner-up in the U-19 category. She lost her finals match to France’s Lauren Baltayan by sets of 9-11, 11-7, 3-11, 9-11. The 17-year-old who was the top seed in the category has lost her dream to add a fourth BJO title. Meanwhile, Lauren added her first career BJO trophy in her seventh and final attempt.
Anahat’s first title in the tournament was in the U-11 girls’ singles category back in 2019, followed by the U-15 girls’ singles title in 2023. Last year, she added her third by winning the U-17 girls’ singles title.
With 12 PSA Tour titles, Anahat started her British Junior Open 2026 campaign with a straight-game victory over Hong Kong’s Wing Kai Gladys Ho in the second round. She defeated Wing Kai by sets of 11-0, 11-3, 11-0. Her prominence followed in the next match in the Round of 16, where she defeated Egypt’s Malak Elmaraghy by 11-1, 11-3, 11-3. She edged past another Egyptian in the quarter-finals, in which she defeated Barb Sameh by 11-4, 10-12, 11-9, 11-3.
In the semi-final clash, Singh faced another Egyptian opponent. She defeated third seed Malika El Karaksy in straight games by 11-8, 11-7, 11-9.
After the conclusion of the centennial Alpha Bravo Construction British Junior Open in Birmingham, Egypt bagged nine of the 10 trophies, including Baltayan’s victory in the U-19 girls event. She is now the second French female player to win a title in BJO after Camille Serme, who won in the 2006 and 2008 editions.
Following the win, Baltayan expressed her happiness and shared her overwhelming thoughts on the victory.
She said, “I’m very proud of how I played. It just shows how far I’ve come. I started playing here when I was nine years old, and now to win in this highest category shows that all the dedication and training paid off.”
British Junior Open 2026 Girls and Boys Finals Results
Girls Finals Events –
- U-11: Alia Elnazer (Egypt) vs. Malika Ghonim (Egypt) (3-1)
- U-13: Serein Mohamed (Egypt) vs. Nabila Elnahas (Egypt) (3-1)
- U-15: Layla Moustafa (Egypt) vs. Reem Elmaghraby (Egypt) (3-0)
- U-17: Habiba Rizk (Egypt) vs. Mariam El Mattet (Egypt) (3-0)
- U-19: Lauren Baltayan (France) vs. Anahat Singh (India) (3-1)
Boys Finals Events –
- U-11: Hazen Mahmoud El Fadly (Egypt) vs. Ngo San Leung (Hong Kong) (3-0)
- U-13: Yahia Waleed Rayan (Egypt) vs. Adam Ragab (Egypt) (3-0)
- U-15: Hassan Abdelgalil (Egypt) vs. Aly Abdel-Fattah (Egypt) (3-1)
- U-17: Farouk Mohamed (Egypt) vs. Philopater Saleh (Egypt) (3-0)
- U-19: Seifeldin Refaay (Egypt) vs. Adam Hawal (Egypt) (3-2)
