Western India squash: Anahat favourite to win women’s and girls’ U-19 crowns

Given the top billing for the first time, Delhi’s 15-year-old Anahat Singh will be a firm favourite to win both the women’s and girls’ under-19 title in the 78th CCI-Western India Slam Squash Championship 2023, starting here on Monday.

Anahat, who won the women’s crown in the recently concluded National Squash Championship last week, is a medallist and is in good form, having won medals in the Asian Games in Hangzhou, China, a few weeks back.

In the event organised by the Cricket Club of India (CCI) under the auspices of the Squash Rackets Federation of India (SRFI), Anahat is likely to face a strong challenge from Maharashtra's Janet Vidhi, who is seeded second in the women’s competition. Chandigarh’s Ananya Pandey and Maharashtra’s Nirupama Dubey are the joint third and fourth seeds.

In the men's event, Maharashtra challengers Suraj Chand and Veer Chotrani are the number one and number two seeds. At the same time, Tamil Nadu’s Harinder Pal Singh Sandhu and Rahul Baitha of Maharashtra are the joint third and fourth seeds.

The second seed in the girls’ under-19 draw is Nirupama Dubey of Maharashtra, while Tamil Nadu’s M. Amritha Rajalakshmi and Reiva Nimbalkar of Maharashtra are the joint third and fourth seeds.