Anahat, 14, shows she is cut out for big league

Chennai: Up against the accomplished 26-year-old Tanvi Khanna and down two games, 14-year-old Anahat Singh dug deep into her mental reserves to emerge victorious in their women’s quarterfinals encounter at the National Squash Championships here on Thursday. Anahat won the match 9-11, 6-11, 11-5, 11-3, 11-8 to make the last-four stage.
Tanvi, who won two Professional Squash Association (PSA) titles in 2021 and is on a comeback trail after an ACL tear waylaid her for a whole year, began the match rather strongly.With her powerful shots and deft placement, Tanvi harried Anahat in the first two games, forcing her to commit errors. However, Anahat got going with her back against the wall, elevating her gameplay when she needed to. The 14-year-old prevailed in a number of closely contested rallies to swing the match decisively in her favour.
This was the first meeting between the two players, so Anahat “did not know what to expect”. Her father Gursharan Singh said: “She was under pressure initially, which showed in the first two sets. We always tell her to enjoy her game, and once she started doing that, the match turned.”
Anahat said she made some technical alterations as the game progressed. “It wasn’t my best performance; I have played much better squash before. But I feel the mentality to win eventually pulled me through,” the Delhi girl told TOI. She added, “It has been my dream to win the senior nationals, and I have been working towards the goal all year.”
In the semifinals, Anahat will be up against qualifier Tanishka Jain, who has beaten a number of seeded players to reach the knockout stage.
Meanwhile, top seeds Joshana Chinappa and Abhay Singh — both from Chennai — progressed to the semifinals with consummate ease. Salem-born 24-year-old Velavan Senthilkumar beat the talented 20-year-old Veer Chotrani to make his way into the last four, where he will face senior India player Harinder Pal Sandhu.