Just days before she was crowned 2026 World Junior squash champion in Ontario, Canada, Indian sensation Anahat Singh made a "very tough" decision that could shape her Olympic destiny.
Like many world class squash tyros before her, Singh faced a dilemma whether to pursue the sport full-time after finishing school, or take the academic route at a leading US college.
As of March 2026, her decision was made. Harvard had come calling.
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, taking place in Aichi–Nagoya, Japan, from 19 September - 4 October, were 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 binary.
The day before she headed out to Niagara-on-the-Lake to compete in her final 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 the World Junior Championships in Ontario yesterday, defeating Egyptian Ruquyya Salem in the final, was the crowning moment of her junior career.
Now it's time for an even bigger prize.
The upcoming Asian Games is the first of the five Continental Games that will each provide one male and one female qualifier in the draw at the Olympic Games in Los Angeles in 2028 (provided the gold medal winner is ranked in the PSA top 50 on 22 May 2028).
For Singh and her main Asian rivals — including Satomi Watanabe of Japan, Malaysia's Sivasangari Subramaniam, sisters Aira and Aifa Azman, and Sin Yuk Chan of Hong Kong — this is the starting gun in the race for those cherished places in squash's first ever Olympic line-up.
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 considerable distance and is world no.20. As things stand, she has a great chance of being one of the eight 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 for the first day of squash action at the Games on Saturday 15 July. But, of course, nothing is guaranteed.
"Making it to the Olympics is of course my main goal and college can always wait," she says.
"I can go next year, but I'll only get one shot at the Olympics, so I think this is the right idea to make sure that I can train as much as I can going into the Asian Games.
"It's not just any ordinary Asian Games this time. There's a lot at stake. I've just finished 12th grade at school and I'll take a year off to focus on my training and my squash.
"Getting a chance to be the first squash-playing Olympian would be a dream come true.
"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 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."
