Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday congratulated young squash sensation Anahat Singh after she scripted history by becoming the first Indian to win the World Junior Squash Championship title, calling her triumph a ‘historic feat’ and expressing confidence that it would inspire more youngsters to take up the sport. Taking to X, the Prime Minister wrote, “A historic feat at the 2026 World Junior Squash Championship. Proud of Anahat Singh for winning the gold medal and becoming the first Indian squash player ever to win the World Junior Championship title. This accomplishment will further popularise squash among the youth.”
The 18-year-old delivered a dominant performance in the women’s singles final, defeating Egypt’s second seed, Ruqayya Salem, 11-3, 11-7, 11-9 to clinch the title.
Anahat entered the tournament as the top seed and justified her billing with an unbeaten run to the crown. With the victory, she became the first Indian and the first non-Egyptian player to win the women’s World Junior Squash Championship since American Amanda Sobhy lifted the title in 2010, ending Egypt’s 15-year dominance of the event.
The triumph marked another milestone in Anahat’s rapidly rising career. Already one of India’s brightest squash prospects, she had won two bronze medals at the 2022 Asian Games as a 15-year-old and has also represented the country at the Commonwealth Games.
Earlier in the day, during the latest edition of his monthly radio programme ‘Mann Ki Baat’, PM Modi highlighted the recent achievements of Indian sportspersons, beginning with ace shuttler PV Sindhu’s maiden Japan Open title.
“Our youth have achieved remarkable feats in sports recently. PV Sindhu has become the first Indian to win the Japan Open title in badminton; the entire nation is proud of this achievement of hers,” PM Modi said.
The Prime Minister also lauded the Indian women’s cricket team for registering their maiden Test victory at the iconic Lord’s Cricket Ground with a commanding 270-run win over England.
“This is a historic victory; our team won the match by a massive margin of 270 runs. But that is not all. In the long history of Lord’s, this was the first Test match played by a women’s team. It was on this very ground that India won her first Cricket World Cup in 1983. Now, our ‘Nari Shakti’ has brought glory to the nation there,” PM Modi said.
India’s win at Lord’s was their first-ever women’s Test victory at the historic venue and further underlined the team’s impressive rise in red-ball cricket.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)