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Indian squash star Anahat Singh secured her seventh Professional Squash Association (PSA) Challengers title of the year as she won the women's singles title at the NSW Open 2024 held in Sydney, Australia on Sunday.
The 16-year-old Indian squash star was seeded second in the tournament and took on an unseeded, 15-year-old Helen Tang of Hong Kong in the final and secured the match by 3-1 (8-11, 11-6, 11-3, 11-4) after just losing the first game. During the semifinals, Anahat defeated Hong Kong's Wong Po Yui Kirstie 3-1 (11-7, 8-11, 11-9, 11-8) after outdoing seventh seed Akari Midorikawa of Japan 3-1 (9-11, 11-4, 11-7, 11-7) in the quarter-finals. In the second round, Anahat registered a win against Japan's Kurumi Takahashi, a wildcard entrant after receiving a first-round bye thanks to her higher seeding in the tournament. India's Urwashi Joshi, the fourth-seeded player also had a first-round bye, but lost in the second round to unseeded Dong Ju Song of South Korea in an upset by 3-1 (12-10, 4-11, 5-11, 9-11). The Sydney title win extends Anahat's remarkable run of form this season, which has seen her reach the world's top 100 for the first time ever after her win at Costa North Coast Open in Coffs Harbour last week. Anahat, who secured bronze medals in the women's team and mixed doubles events at the Asian Games Hangzhou last year, started this year with a bang, securing the JSW Willingdon Little Masters and Senior Tournament in January. Then later, Anahat went on to bag the HCL Squash Tour titles at the Hamdard Squashters Northern Slam PSA Challenger squash tournament in April and the Chennai leg in June. In August, Anahat defended her national title as she secured the Reliance PSA Challenge 3 in Sri Lanka and the Kolkata leg of the HCL Squash Tour. (ANI)
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