India’s youngest Asiad medallist, now only woman at World Championships: The making of Anahat Singh | More sports News

Anahat Singh (Instagram Photo)

NEW DELHI: “When she was born, I was in the hospital, and my husband, Gursharan, was reading the Sikh prayer ‘Japji Sahib’. From there he encountered the word ‘Anahat’ and remarked, ‘That’s a beautiful name,’” recalls Tani Vadehra. In March 2008, the couple welcomed their second child, a girl now chasing greatness at an age when many are preoccupied with schoolwork.
Tani rarely travels with her daughter, yet on Sunday she was swept along by a partisan Malaysian crowd in Kuala Lumpur as 17-year-old Anahat Singh defeated Hong Kong’s Toby Tse 3-1 in the Asian qualifiers, subsequently becoming the youngest Indian and the only Indian woman this year to reach the World Squash Championships, to be held in Chicago from May 9.
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A family that breathes sports

The passion for sports runs deep in Anahat’s family — from Tani’s uncle, a top-rated table tennis player in his prime, to the starlet’s parents, who played hockey during their college days at St. Stephen’s, New Delhi.
“Anahat’s father’s family hails from Patiala. Everyone there is into some sport,” mother Tani tells TimesofIndia.com in a free-wheeling chat from Kuala Lumpur.
Anahat’s elder sister, Amira, began with tennis before finding her stride in squash, gradually becoming one of India’s finest at the U-19 level.
Harvard, however, lured her from the court to pursue a bachelor’s degree, leaving a gap that Anahat has since stepped in to fill.
Squash, though, was not love at first sight for her younger sister.

PV Sindhu inspired her to pick up racquet

A massive fan of PV Sindhu, Anahat would watch the smashes on TV and tell her mother: “I want to win an Olympic medal.”
At the age of five, she dreamt only of badminton, and a year later, she started playing the sport, soon participating in both national and international tournaments. “She just wanted to play something,” her mother laughs.
Anahat’s switch to squash was not entirely unexpected, as frequent trips to watch Amira’s squash matches eventually nudged her towards the glass court.
However, the family’s first introduction to squash was anything but smooth.
Coaches for squash were scarce, and guidance was patchy, so father Gursharan stepped in, absorbing the sport’s basics and tutoring his daughter with help from Delhi coaches.

A star was born

Guided by her sister’s advice, Anahat truly blossomed only after breaking into the senior team. “If she had continued to play junior, we wouldn’t have known her true potential,” reveals the now 17-year-old’s mother.
But how did that happen?
“SRFI (Squash Rackets Federation of India) called her for the Commonwealth Games trials when she was just 13. I was hesitant about whether she should go or not. Still, we decided she should go; if nothing else, she would gain the experience of competing alongside the older girls,” says Tani.
Anahat rose to the challenge and subsequently made the cut.

Even before the Asian Games, the family faced a similar dilemma. After much contemplation, Anahat received her parents’ approval for the Hangzhou trip, where she not only participated but also became the youngest Indian to win Asian Games medals, claiming bronze in both the women’s team and mixed doubles events.
But beyond the medals, the girl, who would still sleep with her parents at night, gained the friendship and guidance of seniors Tanvi Khanna, Joshna Chinappa, Dipika Pallikal, Saurav Ghosal (now her mentor), and Abhay Singh in the Asiad Village.
Until 15, since she wasn’t allowed to play on the professional circuit, she would play in junior events; today, she trains under Ghosal, Grégory Gaultier, and Stéphane Galifi, with an emphasis on strengthening.

But what about the school homework?

Now in Class XI at Delhi’s British School, Anahat continues to juggle studies and sport. During her free hours earlier, she would paint, but because she is away so often nowadays, any spare time at home is devoted to friends and family.

But balancing sport and studies carries a cost.
“In January, after she returned from winning the British Open, two more tournaments were on the calendar,” her mother tells TimesofIndia.com. “Anahat said, ‘I’m mentally tired.’ On her coaches’ advice, we skipped those events, giving her a two-to-three-week break to rest or train as she wished.
“Earlier, she couldn’t express it, but now she simply tells us or her coaches how she feels.”
Tani knows the road is still long. “There’s a lot of hard work ahead,” she says, as Anhat now focuses on spreading her wings for the upcoming World Championships.