Pune, May 28 : In what is likely to be a historic moment for Maharashtra squash, 16-year-old Anika Dubey clinched the silver medal at the Asian Junior Squash Championships in China, finishing runner-up among the best junior players from across the continent. While official confirmation is awaited, members of the squash fraternity believe she could be the first athlete from Pune, and possibly Maharashtra, to achieve this distinction at the prestigious championship.
Already regarded as the “Golden Girl of Pune,” Anika had won an Asian medal at just 14. Two years on, she has established herself firmly among Asia’s elite junior athletes.
A System Producing Champions
Anika’s rise is part of a larger athlete-development movement built through the Chance2Sports Foundation Program powered by SportsSkill. The championships also saw Vasundhara Nangare and Akanksha Gupta, two more athletes from the same program, represent India, making it three players from one development ecosystem competing at Asia’s premier junior squash event.
The ecosystem has been built by SportsSkill co-founders Abhinav Sinha and Chetan Desai, combining elite sport experience with long-term development principles focused on recovery, conditioning, movement quality, injury prevention and mental resilience.
“When you work with champions closely over many years, you realise recovery, movement quality, conditioning and discipline matter as much as hours on court. Anika embodies this. Her silver is not just a personal achievement — it is a statement about what structured, holistic development can produce.” Abhinav Sinha, Multiple-Time National Champion & Co-Founder, SportsSkill.
“I have been in sport for nearly 55 years, and I can say with conviction that what we are seeing from this generation of athletes is genuinely special. Anika’s silver is the result of years of quiet, consistent work — on court, off court and in the mind. That is the only way champions are truly built.” Chetan Desai, Veteran Tennis Champion & Co-Founder, SportsSkill.
The Architect Behind Pune’s Squash Rise
Long before he became a coach, Abhinav Sinha was a pioneer himself, likely the first player from Pune to compete consistently on the international junior circuit in 2009, and among the first from the city to turn professional on the PSA circuit. He later became one of India’s youngest team coaches. That accumulated experience, of competing, failing, succeeding and sustaining, is the foundation on which the SportsSkill-Chance2Sports ecosystem has been built.
The Support System Behind The Success
A special acknowledgement goes to the Kanga Kids Program, created in memory of the late Noshir Kanga by his wife, Deborah Kanga, which has supported all three girls through their formative years over the last 3–4 years. Noshir was a passionate squash enthusiast who played regularly at CCI alongside Naval Pandole, today one of the chief mentors and strongest supporters of the Chance2Sports initiative. Their backing has been instrumental in providing these athletes with access to coaching, tournament exposure, and long-term development support.
Performance, Technology & What Comes Next
Anika’s success comes at a transformational phase for SportsSkill, which has expanded into a broader performance, recovery and wellness ecosystem, integrating sports science, AI-driven diagnostics and functional conditioning with the same athlete-development methodology that produced these champions. The company believes the systems that build elite athletes can be made accessible to a far wider audience, from young sports aspirants to working professionals.
Behind Anika, Vasundhara and Akanksha, a pipeline of younger athletes is moving through the same system, and within Indian squash circles, there is quiet confidence that the medals will keep coming.
Anika Dubey is no longer simply a promising junior. She is a contender — and she will not be the last one from Pune.