For India’s Anahat Singh, who grew up watching “every single match” of Nour El Sherbini, beating the eight-time world champion was nothing short of surreal moment. Facing the legendary squash champion for the first time in her career, Anahat pulled off a stunner in just 30 minutes to book a place in the quarterfinals of the ongoing Silicon Valley Open Squash tournament.
The Indian teenage sensation, who settled for a silver in the recently-concluded in Aichi-Nagoya, beat the Egyptian legend 3-0 (11-8, 11-8, 11-7), in California on Thursday.
The official handle of the PSA Squash Tour posted on X, “Singh-sational. 18-year-old @Anahat_Singh13 has claimed the biggest win of her career, beating 8-time World Champion Nour ElSherbini to reach the @SVOpenSquash quarter finals beats Nour ElSherbini 3-0: 11-8, 11-8, 11-7 (30m).”
Post her win, Anahat admitted that she didn’t expect to share the court in such a way in her first-ever meeting against Sherbini. “I have grown up watching every single match of hers. I admire her, and she is an inspiration to all squash players,” Anahat said after reaching the quarterfinals.
“You want to achieve the things she has in her career. I did not expect the first time of me sharing the court with her go like this. I thought I would take a while to settle in and understand how to play her. But the game plan worked very well,” she added.
A day after taking out Egyptian world No.3 and eight-time world champion El Sherbini in straight games, the 18-year-old world No.15 Anahat beat world No.14 Salma Hany 4-11, 11-8, 4-11, 11-2, 11-5 in 42 minutes in the quarterfinals. In the process, she entered her maiden PSA Gold-level semifinal in Redwood City, USA.
Anahat next plays Malaysian world No.4 and reigning Asian Games champion Sivasangari Subramaniam for a place in the final. The Indian had lost to her in the Asian Games 2026 finals to settle for silver and would be hoping to extract revenge in the semifinals.
revealed that she was a bit tired coming into the quarterfinal match but managed to raise her game just in time. “I’ve never played her before, and I didn’t know what to expect coming on to the court. I have watched her play so many times, and she is so experienced,” said.
“Especially after winning yesterday (against El Sherbini), I know that If I’m playing well I had a chance against whoever I played. I wanted to come in with that mindset,” added the reigning world junior champion.
“…because of the emotions after winning yesterday. I just didn’t want to let go of the momentum today, I wanted to give it my all and I’m happy to get one step further in the tournament,” added the Delhi player.
For the gold level tournament like these, it offers higher ranking points to help players qualify for major finals. The prize money on offer is a minimum USD 100,000. The Silicon Valley Open’s prize purse is USD 143,500.
