India’s young squash star Anahat Singh saw her run at the Silicon Valley Open come to an end after losing 3-1 to Malaysia’s Sivasangari Subramaniam on Friday (local time) in Redwood City.The 18-year-old started strongly, winning the opening game 11-5. However, Sivasangari bounced back to take the next three games 11-6, 11-4 and 11-7, securing a 3-1 victory and a place in the final.The Malaysian had also beaten Anahat in the women’s singles final at the 2026 Asian Games in Japan, denying the Indian a gold medal.
Sivasangari praises Anahat’s talent
After the match, Sivasangari praised Anahat’s skills and said the young Indian was already among the leading players despite her age. She explained that finding her accuracy helped her recover after a slow start and take control of the contest.“Anahat is very talented and so dangerous. She’s definitely amongst the top girls now, and she’s still so young. Coming into today’s match, I started a bit slow but got myself back into it, and I’m glad with the way I finished it. Obviously it’s easy to fall into her game; it wasn’t really a ‘who’s playing the best shot’ kind of game, but I needed ot find my accuracy and once I found that, the game changed. I could have done a few things a bit better, but overall I’m happy with the performance,” she said, as quoted by the PSA website.
Anahat creates history despite exit
Although her campaign ended in the semifinals, Anahat had an impressive tournament. Earlier, she defeated eight-time world champion Nour ElSherbini in Round 2.She beat world No. 14 Salma Hany 3-2 in a 42-minute quarterfinal, winning 4-11, 11-8, 4-11, 11-2 and 11-5.That victory made her the first Indian woman squash player since 2019 to reach the semifinals of a PSA Tour Gold-level event.It was also her first semifinal appearance at this level, marking an important milestone in her young career.Despite the defeat, Anahat’s performance highlighted her growing presence in international squash, while Sivasangari once again proved a tough opponent for the Indian teenager.
