From Pune’s Courts to Asia’s Podium — Anika Dubey’s Silver is Maharashtra’s Finest Squash Moment

Pune’s 16-year-old squash prodigy Anika Dubey has returned from the Asian Junior Squash Championships in China with a silver medal — a feat that could make her the first player from Maharashtra to reach this height at Asia’s most prestigious junior squash event.

Already nicknamed the “Golden Girl of Pune,” Anika had clinched an Asian medal at just 14. This silver, two years later, isn’t simply a personal milestone — it signals that Indian squash has found a serious development pipeline right in Pune’s backyard. Here’s a quick breakdown of everything you need to know.

Anika Dubey’s achievement

The system behind the silver

Three players from a single development ecosystem — that’s the real story. The Chance2Sports Foundation Program powered by SportsSkill had Anika, Vasundhara Nangare and Akanksha Gupta all competing at the same Asian championship. SportsSkill was co-founded by Abhinav Sinha (multiple-time national champion and likely Pune’s first player on the international junior circuit in 2009) and Chetan Desai (veteran tennis champion with 55 years in sport).

“Anika’s silver is not just a personal achievement — it is a statement about what structured, holistic development can produce.”— Abhinav Sinha, Co-Founder, SportsSkill

The methodology combines recovery science, movement quality, injury prevention, conditioning and mental resilience — not just court hours. That philosophy is what separates this program from conventional coaching setups. For more on how Pune’s youth sports scene is rising, check out our squash coverage on Technosports.

The support system that made it possible

Behind every champion is a support network. All three girls from the Chance2Sports ecosystem have been backed over the past 3–4 years by the Kanga Kids Program — created in memory of the late Noshir Kanga by his wife Deborah Kanga. Naval Pandole, Noshir’s longtime squash partner at the CCI, serves today as one of the chief mentors of the Chance2Sports initiative.

This kind of community-backed, long-term support — coaching access, tournament exposure, structured development — is exactly what’s missing for most junior athletes in India. Read more about junior athlete development stories on Technosports.

What comes next

SportsSkill is now expanding into a broader performance, recovery and wellness ecosystem — integrating sports science, AI-driven diagnostics and functional conditioning. The ambition: take the same systems that built these champions and make them accessible to a far wider audience, from young aspirants to working professionals.

Behind Anika, Vasundhara and Akanksha, a new generation of younger athletes is moving through the same pipeline. In Indian squash circles, there’s quiet confidence: the medals will keep coming.

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