Anahat Singh Stuns Nour El Sherbini at Silicon Valley Open

Anahat Singh produced the biggest win of her career on Thursday, defeating eight-time world champion Nour El Sherbini in straight games in the Silicon Valley Open Squash Round of 16.

The 18-year-old Indian needed only 30 minutes to overcome the world No. 3 Egyptian 11-8, 11-8, 11-7 in their first meeting. The result sent Anahat into the quarter-finals of the PSA Tour gold-level event and marked a major moment in her rapidly developing career.

Anahat had already been crowned junior world champion earlier this year, but her victory over El Sherbini represented a different scale of achievement. El Sherbini has won eight world championship titles, and Anahat was only seven years old when the Egyptian claimed her first world crown in 2015.

A straight-games breakthrough for Anahat Singh

The scoreline showed Anahat’s consistency across the match. She took the opening game 11-8, repeated that score in the second, and then completed the upset with an 11-7 third game.

Speaking after the match, Anahat described the significance of facing a player she had long admired. “I’ve grown up watching every single match of hers,” Anahat said. “We have the same coach, Greg, as well.”

“I admire her and want to achieve the things she has done in her career. She is an inspiration to all squash players,” she added.

The win was especially notable because Anahat entered the contest against one of the sport’s most accomplished active players. Rather than needing time to adapt in her first match against El Sherbini, she established control quickly enough to take each of the three games and close out the contest without dropping a game.

Anahat said she had been encouraged before the match by India’s national coach, who was present with her. She knew the opportunity was there if she could produce her best squash against the highly decorated Egyptian.

Belief before a first meeting

“Going into the match, the national coach of India was here with me and he was telling me that I definitely do have a shot, if I was playing really, really well,” Anahat said.

That belief was put to the test in a first-ever meeting with El Sherbini. Anahat admitted she had expected a longer adjustment period against an opponent whose matches she had watched while growing up.

“Just getting to share a court with her, it was my first time. I didn’t expect it to go like this,” she said. “I thought I’ll take a little while to settle in and understand how to play her.”

Instead, Anahat’s approach delivered from the start. She retained her advantage through two tight 11-8 games before opening a clearer margin in the final game to finish the match 11-7.

Quarter-final place secured at Silicon Valley Open

Anahat said the plan she brought into the match proved effective and that she stayed committed to it throughout the 30-minute contest. “But the game plan ended up working pretty well and I just stuck through it,” she said.

Her reaction captured the scale of the result. “I still can’t believe that it ended up on my side of the court,” Anahat added with a chuckle.

The straight-games victory moves Anahat into the Silicon Valley Open quarter-finals and gives the junior world champion a landmark senior result at a PSA Tour gold-level tournament. For Anahat, the challenge of meeting an eight-time world champion for the first time became a defining breakthrough, completed in three composed games.