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Anahat Singh stuns eight-time world champion El Sherbini at Silicon Valley Open
Anahat Singh, who recently won the Asian Games silver medal, defeated top seed and world No. 3 El Sherbini 11-8, 11-8, 11-7 in 30 minutes.
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India's squash sensation Anahat Singh shocked Egypt's eight-time world champion Nour El Sherbini in straight games to reach the women's singles quarterfinals of the Silicon Valley Open squash tournament in Redwood City (USA).
The 18-year-old Indian defeated El Sherbini 11-8, 11-8, 11-7 in 30 minutes in the second round of the USD 143,500 PSA Gold event. Anahat's achievement against El Sherbini is quite big. The Egyptian is currently ranked-third in the world and seeded first in the tournament.
“Going into the match, I have the national coach of India with me, and he was telling me that I definitely have a shot if I play really well. I have grown up watching every match of hers. We have the same coach, Greg. I admire her and want to achieve the things she’s done in her career," Anahat said after her win.
"She’s an inspiration to all squash players. I didn’t expect it to go like this. I thought I’d take a little while to settle in and understand how to play her. But the gameplan ended up working pretty well, and I just stuck through it. I still can’t believe that it ended up on my side of the court. I was happy I was able to get through it,” she added.
Anahat will next face world No. 14 Salma Hany, another Egyptian. In the recently concluded Asian Games in Aichi-Nagoya (Japan), Anahat picked up two medals. In the women's singles final, she lost to Malaysian Sivasangari Subramaniam 11-4, 11-4, 11-7. She became the first Indian woman to win a squash silver in the Asian Games. The other medal she won in Japan was a bronze in women's team event, where the Indian team's campaign was ended in the semifinals by Hong Kong.
