Anahat Singh was already earmarked for excellence when she was 14 years old - entering the spotlight as the youngest member of the Indian contingent at the 2022 Commonwealth Games.
Less than three years later, Anahat is the newly-minted India No. 1, has Asian Games and World junior medals to her name, and is becoming the beacon for Indian squash as it becomes an Olympic sport at the LA 2028 Games. Already, she is being declared an Olympic medal contender, even as she gradually transitions from the junior circuit.
She underlined this promise by winning back-to-back titles in India within a week - a Challenger in Chennai, followed by the Indian Open in Mumbai, played on an outdoor glass court built on the lawns of Bombay Gymkhana with scores of home fans cheering her on. This terrific run has now made her the India No. 1 and sets her up for a PSA Tour season to build upon. It makes it all the more incredible that Anahat was not sure of where her game was as she was studying for an international exam before this.
"I don't think I've played this well in quite some time," she tells ESPN after her title run. "Coming into these two tournaments, I wasn't really happy with the way I was playing. I wasn't training as much because I had my SATs as well. So, I wasn't too confident coming into it, but I think the tournament in Chennai gave me a lot of confidence coming into this tournament in Mumbai."
Confidence has been key to her prodigious talent and her title run in Mumbai highlighted it again. Watching her play, it's easy to understand why the teenager is so highly rated - she is a natural athlete, dynamic on court with an intrinsic agility, while a fluidity of strokes propels her swift points. But it is her composure, and genuine enthusiasm to battle it out on the PSA World Tour, that shows the kind of unique athlete she is shaping up to be at only 17.
In Mumbai, Anahat played three very different kinds of matches to win. A very close quarter-final against a familiar teen opponent (whom she had lost to twice previously) which Anahat won 11-9 in the decider - "I was almost out of the tournament in that match!"
It was followed by a generational semifinal clash against 38-year-old compatriot Joshna Chinappa where familiarity threw her off initially - "I've spent so much time with her off-court that I was not able to... I had a slow start. My parents were telling me to focus, this is not an exhibition match."
And then a breezy, almost easy final win against Hong Kong teen Helen Tang where she played some of her best squash in recent times. "This is one of the biggest tournaments I have won so far and [these wins] are going to boost my ranking quite a bit, which opens up the opportunity to play lot of the bigger tournaments."
The goal, of course, is to get her ranking high enough so she can play in the big leagues. In this regard, the last two weeks have gone perfectly to plan. Bigger tournaments mean a chance to play higher-ranked opponents and test herself, something she is keen to do even if it means losses. "I've rarely had the opportunity to play anyone who's at the top level besides Joshna and a few others. As I continue to get into the bigger tournaments, even if I lose in the first few rounds, I think it's important for me to understand where my level is compared to the top 10 and where I need to work on," she explains.
This also means Anahat will slowly phase out of the junior circuit, where she has been tremendously successful, with July's World Junior Championships also being a big target. Currently, balancing both the junior and senior tour has been a bit hard, with little time to train in a very short off season. With the 2028 Olympics in mind, her PSA World Tour rankings becomes top priority. "Everyone knows that you're number one in juniors. It's more about where you are in the world and that's what my main aim is right now."
With LA in mind, it's no secret that Anahat is at centre of Indian squash's Olympic programme. The country's squash community has converged around her. Veteran Saurav Ghosal, one of India's best-ever squash players, is her mentor and was seen talking to her during the matches in Mumbai. "We are just trying to get her to be a bit more mature, to get her to understand where her strengths lie and to be able to play to those strengths so that she can create an identity and impose that on the match as much as possible. She's still young and this is the start of her journey," Ghosal said.
Abhay Singh, who finished as the runner up at the men's Copper level tournament in Mumbai, candidly admitted that Anahat is the only Indian who can be in Olympics conversation right now. JSW Sports, who has partnered with the Squash Rackets Federation of India, openly tout her as an LA Games medal prospect. She has a full team around her now with former pros Gregory Gaultier - who Ghosal says is one of the best coaches in the world - and Stephane Galifi as full-time coaches.
Pressure? That's not a word in the teenager's lexicon yet. The more accurate word would be excitement. Like how enjoying an upcoming vacation to Italy was her motivation in the final. "My mom said if you want to enjoy Italy properly, make sure you win this tournament. That's something that kept me motivating as well throughout." Did that add a lot of pressure? "Not pressure, it was more of just excitement. I don't really want to think about losing, I want to enjoy the full holiday property."
She was similarly unfazed by the crowds and an intense fan experience in Mumbai with kids lining up for photographs and autographs ... one even on a Rs 200 note for lack of any paper. "When you are playing tournaments at such a high stage, I'm realizing that I do get a little bit stressed out, but it's not really that much... a little bit of music and a little bit of talking to my coach can just settle it all out."
In fact, the teen's worries now are her upcoming Grade 11 exams at the British School and building a gym routine as her she matures and has to build muscle.
It's a big shift from the Anahat of 2022, who was almost reserved in her interviews at the CWG, when thrust into the limelight as a 14-year-old. The Anahat of 2025 is more self-actualised and comfortable with her place in the squash's broadening ecosystem. And if thing fall in place, the next few years could see her become of India's biggest sporting icons.