The mid-September timing of the Asian Games left Indian sensation Anahat Singh with something of a dilemma.
Earlier this year, she had made the decision to study at Harvard and was scheduled to start in the 2026/27 academic year. With its legendary head squash coach Mike Way, long list of illustrious squash alumni and rich history of Ivy League success, it was too good an opportunity to turn down.
There was a family connection to the Crimson too — her older sister Amira (also an accomplished squash player) had also studied there.
But the announcement of squash's Olympic qualification system for LA28 back in February changed the picture.
The Asian Games had been placed at the fulcrum of the qualifying process for Asian athletes. For Singh, that would mean leaving campus only three weeks after enrolling for her first term.
Asian Games and Olympic qualification on one shoulder, the crucial first year at Harvard on the other. Anahat and her parents realised that both would need full commitment, and so the choice was a binary one.
The day before she headed out to Niagara-on-the-Lake to compete in July's World Junior Championships, the decision was made. She would take a gap year, play full-time and dedicate herself fully to the Asian Games and her Olympic dream.
"It was a tough decision," the 18-year-old told Squash Player. "I discussed it with my parents and we realised it was for the best and that Asian Games is the top priority right now.
"I realised that going to college and then going into the Asian Games straight from there after my first month would be really, really rough in terms of trying to fit in, figuring out classes and training side-by-side."
Singh, who so memorably burst into the squash public's consciousness at the 2022 Commonwealth Games in Birmingham as a softly-spoken 14-year-old, has since broken a string of squash records.
She became Indian national champion aged just 15 (and has added two more national titles since), won two British Junior Open titles, the Asian Junior Championship, became the youngest ever Asian to make the world top 20, has beaten top-10 players Gina Kennedy and Tinne Gilis, and has won 13 PSA Tour titles already.
Victory at July's World Junior Championships in Ontario was the crowning moment of her junior career. After dropping games to Egyptians Habiba Rizk and Barb Sameh in the quarters and semis, the final against second seed Ruqayya Salem saw the nerves disappear, with a straight-games masterclass.
"I still feel like I'm dreaming!" she said afterwards. "This is my last year [as a junior] and my only chance to win it. It means the world."
Now it's time for an even bigger prize: the Asian Games and the juiciest of Olympic bonuses for both champions.
If Singh misses out on an Olympic place in Japan, the qualification system has given her a highly credible second chance to make it to LA. She is currently the top-ranked Indian by a distance and is world no.20. As things stand, she has a great chance of being one of the eight (or more) athletes to seal qualification via her world ranking on the cut-off date of 22 May 2028.
A lot can change in two years, of course. Two years ago, Singh's world ranking was 207. It's now 20. This trajectory would suggest further upward progress by 2028 and a treasured place at Universal Studios Lot in LA. But, of course, nothing is guaranteed.
"Getting a chance to be the first squash-playing Olympian would be a dream come true," states Singh. "It's still not sunk in that I have a chance to play at the Olympics, but I don't want to get my hopes up and I know it's a long journey.
"I don't think I can put it into words, but if I get a chance to be an Olympian, whether I'm the first [by winning the Asian Games] or it comes later [qualifying via her world ranking], it's something that would be unbelievable. I will carry it for the rest of my life and it's going to make me happier than anything."
It would certainly be welcomed by the wider Indian public too. With its national obsession cricket added to the LA28 sporting programme alongside squash, there will be massive attention on these Games in the Subcontinent.
Singh is aware of the potential impact that success in LA could have on her sport back home.
"India is a huge country with a huge population so if squash reaches the right audience, it could blow up as a sport," she states.
"Since I started playing until now it has really grown — but the Olympics is in the picture now. Having someone from India going to the Olympics in a sport which has just been added would really change the game.
"It would help the sport grow in this country. It's something that's new and upcoming and it will force people to try it out. It just takes one person to make that change."
