Road to India's historic first-ever Squash World Cup Title in Chennai

India's mixed squash team scripted history on Sunday evening at the Express Avenue Mall in Chennai by winning their maiden Squash World Cup title in front of a home crowd.

The team, led by one of India's most decorated squash players, Joshna Chinappa, alongside youngsters like Anahat Singh, Abhay Singh, and Velavan Senthilkumar, showed a great fighting spirit throughout the tournament.

They have fully dominated the tournament without facing any significant challenges, securing the trophy with five consecutive victories and not dropping a single match.

A rise in 2025

This victory is a result of India's continuous rise throughout the year, like the emergence of promising talents Anahat Singh and Abhay Singh, both of whom have broken into the world's top 30 this year.

The only question for India before the World Cup was who would step up as the second women's singles player behind Anahat Singh, given the significant gap between her and the other emerging talents.

Then, step in the veteran Joshna, who returned to PSA circuit after some time and reached two consecutive finals just before the World Cup, justifying her selection in the team.

The 39-year-old further cemented her legacy and proved to be one of the key players for India en route to the trophy, remaining unbeaten throughout the tournament.

The Road to Final

India started the tournament by topping their Group B with two consecutive 4-0 wins against Switzerland and Brazil and reached the quarterfinal.

In the quarterfinals, they faced South Africa, which proved to be another comfortable win for India, with three straight game wins in the tie, confirming their second successive World Cup medal.

However, the true test arrived in the semi-finals, when India faced off against the two-time defending champions and squash powerhouse Egypt.

Although Egypt sent a young team to the competition, it wasn't going to be an easy tie for India, given their prowess on the world circuit, having 7-8 players in the world top 20.

The Indian in-form stars Abhay Singh and Velavan Senthilkumar showed their potential and registered dominating wins in both men's singles matches.

In the women's singles, however, Anahat Singh faced intense pressure from world No. 44 Nour Heikal in what could have proved a decisive encounter for the tie.

But the teenager, experiencing real pressure for the first time in the tournament, displayed remarkable composure to overcome the challenge in a tough five-game battle.

Final Hurdle

After defeating the giant Egypt in the semi-finals, India was entering the final with high confidence against the top seeds, Hong Kong, and was marked as favourites by the experts.

On paper, this was the closest and expected to be an evenly matched tie for India, as there was not much difference in the ranking of both teams' players.

This time, India chose Joshna to take the first match of the day, and she didn't disappoint at all, claiming a hard-fought four-game win against world no.36, Ka Yi Lee.

Having an early advantage in the match, India was in the driver's seat, and they comfortably closed out the tie with two dominating wins from Abhay and Anahat Singh.

This victory at the home crowd will sit among India's one of the biggest triumphs in this sport, and will help the next generation of youngsters to pick up this sport.

The timing of this victory couldn't be more perfect, as squash has now become an Olympic sport, and the intense battle for those limited qualification spots will begin next year.