NEW DELHI: Eighteen-year-old Anahat Singh of India produced one of the standout results of the 2026 PSA Squash Tour when she defeated eight-time world champion Nour ElSherbini 11-8, 11-8, 11-7 in just 30 minutes at the Silicon Valley Open in Redwood City on Wednesday.
The straight-games victory over the top-seeded Egyptian, a World No. 3 and equal of Nicol David’s record for most world titles, propelled the Indian into the quarter-finals of the USD143,500 PSA Gold event and marked the biggest win of her professional career.
Singh, born in New Delhi on 13 March 2008 and currently ranked around the world top 15-17, has risen rapidly.
She became India’s first World Junior champion earlier in 2026, the first non-Egyptian winner since 2010, and claimed a historic women’s singles silver at the 2026 Asian Games in Japan.
Coached by former world No. 1 Grégory Gaultier alongside Saurav Ghosal and Stéphane Galifi, she turned professional in 2023 and has already collected multiple PSA titles while becoming the youngest Asian player to crack the top 20.
ElSherbini, a dominant force who has held the world No. 1 ranking for extended periods and won four British Opens, arrived in California as the clear favourite.
Anahat Singh enters quarterfinals
Singh, who has now qualified for the quarter-finals, had earlier eased past Nour Aboulmakarim in the opening round.
After the upset she reflected that she had “grown up watching every single match” of the Egyptian, underscoring the personal weight of the result against a player she has long admired.
The win arrives as squash prepares for its Olympic debut at Los Angeles 2028.
For Singh, it confirms her ability to trouble the game’s established elite on the senior tour and strengthens her case for further ranking progress.
The Silicon Valley Open, staged from 20-24 October, continues to showcase a new generation capable of challenging the long-standing hierarchy led by Egyptian players.