Nour El Sherbini is a former World Championship medallist who was the favourite to win this game but Anahat’s tactical superiority helped her reach the SVO quarters
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India’s Anahat Singh competes in the squash singles match against Hong Kong’s Sin Yuk Chan during the women’s team semifinal at the Asian Games 2026 in Nagoya, Japan, on Thursday, October 01, 2026(Photo: IANS/Biplab Banerjee)
Indian squash sensation Anahat Singh, who recently returned with a silver and a bronze medal from the Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games 2026, has registered the biggest win of her career so far, beating her own idol and current world number three at the PSA Gold-level Chicago Open 2026.
Anahat Singh did so in emphatic fashion, winning all three sets to advance to the quarter-finals and her opponent was none other than her own idol and Egyptian world number three Nour El Sherbini who was left absolutely stunned after the match.
Anahat headed into the tournament carrying plenty of confidence and zeal after a terrific outing at the 2026 Asian Games where she won a women’s singles silver and team bronze medalShe did miss out on securing a direct spot at the Los Angeles Olympics in two years’ time, but the way she is performing at the moment, it seems as if she will make it happen in the PSA qualification tournaments.
How Anahat orchestrated the win?
The world number 16 started on the front foot and her brilliant start had set the tone perfectly for the rest of the matchThe score lines of 11-8, 11-8 and 11-7 across the three games speaks a lot about how Anahat dominated the game from the start to the end.
Huge upset!
18 year old Anahat Singh just beat 8-time World Champion Nour ElSherbini 3-0 (11-8, 11-8, 11-7) to reach the SV Open Squash quarter-finalsBiggest win of her career!
https://t.co/nGOVymIo6w
— Team Bharat (@YTStatslive) October 22, 2026
Anahat did extremely well to contain the pressure from El Sherbini as the Indian teenager made minimal unforced errors and also controlled the paceIt totally unsettled her Egyptian opponent who was tactically outdone and was never given the chance to settle in.
Notably, El Sherbini, 30, is a multiple gold and silver medallist at the World Championships and beating her in straight games is no small feat, that too, in a major knockout matchAnahat denied the Egyptian a spot on the quarter-finals and the Indian teenager was buzzing after the win.
Anahat Singh was full of emotions after the match and thanked the Indian national coach for instilling the belief that she can pull off this massive victory“I mean, going into the match, of course, I have the national coach of India here with me, and he was telling me that I definitely do have a shot if I, you know, play really, really well,” Anahat said.
The 18-year-old so stated that watching El Sherbini’s games helped her formulate a solid game plan and also stated that she wants to achieve the same things as the Egyptian.
“And, of course, I’ve grown up watching every single match of hersWe have the same coach, Greg, as well, and, you know, I admire her and, you know, want to achieve the things she’s done in her career,” Anahat concluded.
