The 100th edition of the British Junior Open (BJO) held in Birmingham resulted in success for Indian squash player Anahat Singh.
The youngster took part in the Girls U-19 category, where she defeated Barb Sameh in the quarterfinals by sets of 11-4, 10-12, 11-9, 11-3. After dominating the first set, she maintained her momentum well in the remaining three sets by strong back-court game and through increased front-court pressure.
The 17-year-old with 12 PSA Tour titles was the top seed in the Girls U-19 category and is looking to add her fourth British Junior Open title when she next faces third seed Malika El Karasky of Egypt in the semi-finals.
Last year, Anahat defeated Malika to claim the U-17 title at the British Junior Open 2025 edition held at the Glass Court of the University of Birmingham.
The top seed defeated second-seeded Malika by a score of 3-2 and in sets of 4-11, 11-9, 6-11, 11-5, 11-3. The victory was Anahat’s third having previously won in 2019 in U-11, followed by the second in U-15 in 2023. In the 2024 U-17 finals, she lost to Egypt’s Nadien Elhammamy.
Anahat’s career achievements
Anahat finished her 2025 season as No. 28 in the world rankings on the PSA Tour, including her victory against top-20 opponents. She has recently won the HCL Squash Indian Tour 4 title in Chennai after defeating former world No. 10 Joshna Chinappa in a five-game final.
Her prominence increased after she defeated Chinappa once again in a 55-minute battle held at the Daly College SRFI Indian Open in Indore in November 2025. With the win, Anahat claimed her 13th PSA title.
Besides Anahat, India secured another major win in the U-17 boys’ category. Second seed Aryaveer Dewan has booked his spot in the semi-finals after defeating Egypt’s Yassin Kouritam by sets of 9-11, 11-3, 10-12, 11-9, 12-10 in the quarter-finals. Another major milestone achieved by the 17-year-old squash player was in the 2025 Squash World Cup, where Anahat defeated world No. 31 Tomato Ho by a 3-0 score. She won by sets of 7-2, 7-2, 7-5.
Anahat has won two bronze medals in the women’s team and mixed doubles events at the 2023 Asian Games held in Hangzhou. In 2020, she bagged silver medals at the British and Malaysian Junior Open events, respectively. In 2021, she became the first Indian to win the US Open junior U-15 squash title.
