CWG 2022: Meet 14-year-old Anahat Singh, India's Youngest Athlete At the 2022 Commonwealth Games
The 22nd Commonwealth Games begins with a spectacular opening ceremony in Birmingham. It was refreshing as the sporting program is the first multi-discipline event since the start of the pandemic to be held without major Covid restrictions.
At CWG 2022, India will be represented by 215 athletes who will take part in 141 events across 19 sporting disciplines. Some prominent names in the squad besides Olympic medallists P.V Sindhu, Mirabai Chanu, Lovlina Borgohain, Bajrang Punia and Ravi Kumar Dahiya. Defending CWG champions Manika Batra, Vinesh Phogat, Hima Das and Amit Panghal.
Among all athletes, one of the athlete is the center of attraction is 14-year-old Anahat Singh - India's youngest contender for the commonwealth Games 2022.
Who is Anahat Singh India's youngest athlete at the CWG 2022?
Anahat Singh is a Grade nine student at The British School in Chanakyapuri who plays squash and when it comes to the Indian contingent at the 2022 Commonwealth Games, Anahat will be the youngest participant in this edition. The 14-year-old squash player earned her ticket to Birmingham by impressing in the national selection trials. started playing squash aged eight and has won many national titles till date. Anahat Singh's currently ranked first in Asia and India in the girls' U-15 category.
Origin story Squash player Anahat Singh
Anahat Singh was born on March 13, 2008, in Delhi and her father Gursharan Singh is a lawyer while her mother Tani Vadehra Singh an interior designer. The sporting culture was always strong in the Anahat Singh household as both Gursharan and Tani had dabbled in hockey in their youth.
Anahat Singh¡¯s sister Amira is also an accomplished squash player and was one of the country¡¯s top-rated under-19 players before moving to Harvard University to pursue her bachelor¡¯s degree. She still plays squash for the Harvard women¡¯s team.
Anahat¡¯s first love was not Squash
Anahat¡¯s first love, though, was not squash. It was badminton. Anahat Singh's sporting idol is PV Sindhu, when she was six year old she watched PV Sindhu, the first time when she was playing India Open. After that, a young Anahat became fascinated with badminton and started to pursue the sport. She even won a few youth-level tournaments in Delhi. However, as fate would have it, Anahat Singh transitioned to squash when she was eight.
Anahat Singh's journey - from Delhi to Birmingham Games 2022
Anahat Singh coached by her elder sister Amira Singh and former national-level squash players Amjad Khan and Ashraf Hussein, took little time to establish herself as the future of squash in India.
Within a short span of time, Anahat became India number one in the under-11 category and stepped up to the under-13 category, where she rose to number one not just in India but also in Asia and Europe.
Anahat Singh got fame in 2019 when she won the under-11 girls¡¯ category gold medal at the prestigious British Open squash tournament, a first-ever for India. Anahat also won a bronze medal at the Asian junior championships in 2019.
In 2020, Anahat Singh, a student of the British School in Delhi¡¯s Chanakyapuri, bagged silver medals at the British and Malaysian Junior Open tournaments before the coronavirus pandemic disrupted life worldwide.
Anahat has won 46 national circuit titles??
As far as her career is concerned, Anahat has won 46 national circuit titles, two national championships and eight international titles in less than six years. She is the first Indian sportswoman to win British Junior Squash Open (2019) and US Junior Squash Open (2021).
The hard work paid off for Anahat Singh and her sister. While her sister is on the squash team at Harvard, Anahat will be representing India at the Commonwealth Games.
The CWG is testing for most athletes even in a slightly less intense field and to make a senior debut in the cauldron of a multi-sport competition will be a big challenge for Anahat. But, even at 14, her focus is clear - not the event, not the competition, it's all about the thrill of her sport.
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