Anahat Singh reflects on her Asian Games 2026 performance after returning with historic silver and team bronze

Indian squash player Anahat Singh returned from the Asian Games 2026 with two medals and another big step in her young career. The 18-year-old won a historic silver in the women’s singles event, becoming the first Indian woman to win a singles squash silver at the Asian Games. She also helped India win bronze in the women’s team event.

For Anahat, the singles medal came on her Asian Games debut in the event. She reached the final after beating Japan’s Satomi Watanabe 3-2 in a tight semifinal. In the final, however, Malaysia’s Sivasangari Subramaniam proved too strong, winning 11-4, 11-4, 11-7.

Despite missing out on gold, Anahat was happy with what she achieved. “It was my first time playing the singles event, so getting to win a medal and also getting a silver was amazing,” she said.

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She admitted that she wanted to go one step further, especially with the singles gold offering a direct qualification route for the 2028 Olympics.

“I wanted to push a bit further and possibly go into getting gold, but it doesn’t always go your way,” Anahat said. “I’m happy I was able to put on a good performance and take this with me so I can get a gold next time,”

Anahat’s second event was the women’s team competition, where she played alongside Tanvi Khanna and Joshna Chinappa. India began their campaign strongly and Anahat produced important wins during the group stage. In the match against Japan, she faced Watanabe again but lost 2-3, while Joshna and Tanvi won their matches to give India a 2-1 victory.

The team then reached the semifinals and was assured of at least a bronze. Against Hong Kong, Anahat played the opening match against Chan Sin Yuk. She had four match points but could not close out the contest, eventually losing 2-3 after a long five-game battle. Tanvi won the second match, but Joshna lost the decider and India went down 1-2.

That meant Anahat finished the Games with a silver in singles and bronze in the team event. India’s eight-member squash contingent returned with five medals overall — two silver and three bronze.

With the Asian Games behind her, Anahat has now turned her attention towards the Olympics. Since she missed direct qualification by losing the singles final, she plans to improve her PSA ranking and earn her place at Los Angeles 2028 through the rankings.