Anahat Singh storms into World Junior Squash semi-finals, creates Indian record

Ontario: India's top seed Anahat Singh continued her dominant run at the 2026 World Junior Individual Squash Championships, defeating Egypt's Habiba Rizk to secure a place in the women's singles semi-finals.

World No. 20 Anahat won the quarter-final 11-7, 11-5, 6-11, 11-9 to become the first Indian player to reach the World Junior Championships semi-finals in consecutive editions. With another strong performance, she has also emerged as one of the leading contenders for the title.

The Indian star will now face Egypt's Barb Sameh in the semi-finals as she aims to become India's first-ever junior world champion in squash.

Elsewhere in the women's draw, Barb Sameh advanced with a straight-games victory over Hong Kong China's Helen Tang, while fellow Egyptian Malika Elkaraksy defeated Belgium's Savannah Moxham in three games. Egypt's Ruqayya Salem also booked a last-four berth after a hard-fought five-game win over Malaysia's Whitney Wilson.

In the men's competition, Egypt's top seed Mohamad Zakaria cruised into the semi-finals, while Seifeldin Refaay advanced with a straight-games victory over Belgium's Maddox Moxham. Adam Hawal overcame Saudi Arabia's Mohammed Alnasfan in four games, and Marwan Assal secured his place in the final four after edging France's Amir Khaled-Jousselin in a thrilling five-game contest.

With inputs from IANS