After coming close thrice in the past, India’s teenage squash prodigy Anahat Singh finally ended her quest for winning a medal at the prestigious World Junior Championships as she beat Egypt’s Mallika Elkaraksy in the quarterfinals in New Cairo on Thursday. The 11-6 13-11 11-5 win took Anahat into the semifinals, which assures her a place on the podium. She is the first Indian female WJC semi-finalist since 2010, according to World Squash.
After a bye in the opening round, Anahat defeated Joelle Kim of Canada 11-4, 11-4, 11-2 in the round of 64. In the next round, she ovecame Ines Guyot of France even more comfortably, 11-1 11-6 11-1. The prequarterfinals saw the Indian beat Brazil’s Laura Da Silva 11-5 11-2 11-6. In her first Egyptian test on Thursday against Elkaraksy, Anahat was finally pushed, especially in the second game, but she prevailed 13-11 to ensure her run of not dropping a game continued on.
In an interview with The Indian Express earlier this year, Anahat had said that she will approach this year’s World Juniors with a mindset of winning the title and not just wanting a medal. “I need to turn those quarterfinal finishes into a win. This time I am going into the tournament aiming to win. Not focusing on just winning a medal anymore, it doesn’t seem to be working out if I am thinking like that! If I am supposed to win it, I am supposed to win it now.” Her mentor and Indian legend Saurav Ghosal approved. “I am glad she is thinking that way.”
Anahat will next face a familiar foe in Nadien Elhammamy, the Egyptian who ended her run in the last eight in the 2024 edition. But Anahat had beaten Elhammamy in the round of 16 in 2023.
After her quarterfinal win, Anahat told Squash TV that she was glad to end the streak of quarterfinal exits. “I’m really, really happy. The World Juniors is something really special to me. I’ve lost in the quarters for three years in a row, and I’m really glad I was able to reach the semis this time.”
The biggest challenge in squash at any level is taking on Egyptians, and Anahat has to beat two more players from the powerhouse if she has to achieve her dream of winning the gold. “Egyptians are dominating right now so every tournament is like this where I’m always playing Egyptians in many matches. But she’s just another opponent for me, it doesn’t really matter which country she’s from but I mean she’s still really young, and she’s doing well, she’s a great player and I’m really glad I was able to win today.”
🇮🇳 @indiasquash‘s first female World Championship semi-finalist since 2010! 👏
Result: 2025 World Squash Junior Championships Women’s QF
🇮🇳 [2] Anahat Singh beats [5/8] Malika Elkaraksy 🇪🇬
3-0: 11-6, 13-11, 11-5#WorldJuniorsSquash pic.twitter.com/qmDms0G8AY— World Squash (@WorldSquash) July 24, 2025
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Anahat has recently started transitioning to the senior PSA circuit while competing at the major junior events like the Worlds and British Open (which she won earlier this year). “There is a huge difference (in the two levels), because when I’m playing a junior tournament I expect a lot from myself going into it. When I’m playing seniors it’s more of just going in and playing my best because most of the people playing are better than me. So it is a lot different and the pressure is also quite different as well but yeah I mean I’m learning to like you know overcome it.”
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Coincidentally, it was Elkarasky that Anahat had defeated in the British Open final this year. After the third game, she was in trouble, trailing 1-2. As she came out of the court in Birmingham before the fourth game started, Ghosal was upset, not because she was losing the final but because he was certain Anahat wasn’t playing to the level she was capable of. “Initially, just nothing was working out,” Anahat had said. “When I came out of the court after the third game when I was 1-2 down, he was quite angry with me. That was one reason I started playing better.” But on Thursday, she was able to finish the job in three games.
© The Indian Express Pvt Ltd
