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New Delhi: Even after a tiring Commonwealth Games (CWG 2022) in Birmingham, the young squash sensation Anahat Singh is in high spirits. Anahat is the youngest squash player at Birmingham 2022 and opened her campaign against Jada Ross on the opening day of the squash competition on Friday (July 29). It is a testimony to her immense talent that the 14-year-old got an opportunity to play in one of the most followed athletic competitions around the world after the Olympics.
In an exclusive conversation with India.com, Anahat spoke candidly about her experience in Birmingham, her mindset before every match and learnings from country’s top squash players with the likes of Joshna Chinappa, Dipika Pallikal and Saurav Ghosal.
Representing India at the age 14 does attract attention from around the country – especially on the game. Sometimes, the athlete’s game is brought under scrutiny as well. Does Anahat get affected by all this. Here’s what she has to say – “It doesn’t really. I mean, if it did affect my game, that would mean I am not a great athlete. Even in my first game, I wasn’t that nervous because I had no fear of losing the game. As I was competiting against much experienced players than me, I learned a lot of thing too.”
Being someone who has also played badminton in the past, Anahat gradually leaned towards squash due to her sister Amira Singh (Indian Squash Player). “I used to go along my sister and hit for like 15-20 minutes but nothing serious because I was mainly pursuing badminton…my sister was playing a tournament in Bengal and I went along so I entered as well. But then I started actually doing well, I started practising a lot more.” Anahat added.
Someone who follows squash regularly, is probably aware of the fact that game involves a bit of body contact and opponents do resort to pushing each other in pursuit of the ball. When asked about this, Anahat said,”In commonwealth (CWG 2022), there wasn’t much pushing, however, I have experienced rough gameplay in my pre-quarter match at World Juniors.” On being asked about if the youngster gets angry on this, the 14-year-old said,”I play my game pretty straightforward. I ensure that I stick to my strength because that is the only way I can win the game.”
Anahat also spoke about her experience with Indian squash veterans like Dipika Pallikal, Joshna Chinappa and Saurav Ghosal – “I learned a lot while I was part of the squash contingent there at the commonwealth. They used to tell me how I can consistently go forward in the game. I am not someone who interacts a lot initially but I ended up spending a lot of time with them during the tournament.”
Anahat manages her academics fairly well on the side and also credits here school (The British School) on providing her full freedom to take the time out for her sport.
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