Sixteen-year-old Anika Dubey is about to step onto the glass court at the WSF World Junior Squash Championships in Niagara-on-the-Lake, Canada, running from July 20–31, 2026. For her, it’s not just another tournament — it’s living proof that a child discovered on a public court in Pune can rise to compete against the world’s best junior athletes.
Anika heads into the championship as one of India’s standout junior players: a three-time National Champion who recently claimed silver in the Girls’ Under-17 category at the 33rd Asian Junior Individual Championships held in Panzhihua, China, this past May. She shared that podium moment with two fellow athletes from her foundation, Vasundhara Nangare and Akanksha Gupta. With squash set to debut as an Olympic sport at Los Angeles 2028, Anika belongs to the first generation of Indian squash players for whom an Olympic medal is a genuine, tangible goal.
Table of Contents
Anika Dubey: The System Behind the Success
Anika’s journey has been shaped by Chance2Sports (C2S), a Section 8 not-for-profit that has spent over 15 years building something Indian sport has historically lacked — a complete, structured pathway from grassroots discovery to international competition. The foundation runs talent-scouting camps across schools and small towns, pairs young players with national and international-level coaches, and covers the costs of equipment, travel, and tournament entry that often keep talented kids out of the game entirely.
She isn’t the only success story to come out of this pipeline. Vasundhara Nangare, who taught herself the sport on a broken cement court in Kalamb, and Akanksha Gupta from Thane both rose through C2S’s flagship Kanga Kids Program before representing India alongside Anika in China. Behind them, a new wave of young talent — including Under-11 rising stars Vedant Shinde and Viraaj — is already climbing the national rankings.
“We don’t wait for talent to find us; we go and find it,” said Abhinav Sinha, Co-Founder of Chance2Sports and a former international squash player. He points out that opportunity, not raw ability, has always been India’s real bottleneck — and that C2S was built specifically to close that gap.
Run Like an Institution, Not Just a Cause
What distinguishes C2S from many grassroots efforts is its governance. As a registered Section 8 company, it operates with a formal board of mentors, audited financial accounts, and quarterly reports that show patrons exactly how their contributions are being used — down to coaching hours, tournament entries, and results.
That transparency has clearly built trust. The foundation has channeled more than ₹1 crore in donations from CSR partners, family foundations, and individual philanthropists — a large portion raised in just the past year, including gifts from several patrons who’ve chosen to stay anonymous. With that relatively modest funding base, C2S has supported over 450 athletes, reached more than 900 student-athletes through talent identification drives in Pune and Mumbai, and helped develop 20+ national and international-level players.
Co-Founder Chetan Desai, a former ATP-ranked tennis player, credits the foundation’s staying power to this same discipline. “Patrons stay with us because we operate with the accountability of a professional organization and the heart of a social mission,” he said, adding that C2S’s support extends well beyond funding — into nutrition, physical conditioning, mental well-being, and performance planning for its athletes.
Chance2Sports : Overview
Chance2Sports (C2S) is a Section 8 not-for-profit sports development foundation tracing its roots to 2009, when RNSF was founded to promote sport in Pune. Through its two pillars — RNSF and Champions Gurukul — and its flagship Kanga Kids Program, C2S identifies, trains, funds, and mentors talented young athletes from underserved communities, guiding them from local courts to national and international competition. Its alumni include Asian Junior medalists and several of India’s top-ranked junior players. The foundation operates with institutional governance, audited financials, and quarterly reporting to its patrons.
FAQs
What Comes Next?
C2S is now working to raise ₹25 crore over the next five years to expand its programs into new sports and cities, grow its scholarship base to support 150 athletes, and establish dedicated high-performance training centers. The long-term goal: to produce India’s first World Junior squash gold medalist to emerge from a community-based program.
For Anika, the mission comes down to something simpler. “I started on a public court when I was six. Now I’m going to play the best players in the world. I want every kid watching me to know this path exists.”
