Akanksha’s love for squash dates way back to 2012 when she was just 10 years old, a pretty late start as one might consider. Raised in a small town of Goa (India) like any other kid during that age, she was enrolled in several hobbies. To keep her busy, her parents got her to do dance classes, art classes, yoga etc. However, none of them were nearly as interesting as the sport of squash which she would eventually begin in the summer of 2012. At first, squash wasn’t much of anything, it was more of a deal she had with her military dad. Take squash lessons for the summer and you might just get rewarded with a brand new iPod. Although, she never received that ipod that was promised, she gained something much more valuable – the love for squash. Her former coach Rehman Hubli spotted her potential and was adamant to get Akanksha started with some serious training.

After only a year of focused training, Akanksha began competing in several domestic tournaments where she was already giving a good fight to all the higher ranked players. Looking back at her junior career, Akanksha has won 23 domestic titles and 3 international titles which includes the prestigious Dutch Junior Open Title in 2015. Moreover, she has been individually ranked #1 in India from 2013 until 2017 as a junior and has represented India in several junior and senior international championships. Most notable being: getting selected for the senior team to compete at the 2016 World Women’s Team Championship held in Paris when she was only 17 years of age.

Soon enough, American colleges began approaching her. Akanksha knew she wanted to turn pro someday, however, she didn’t want to make that sudden transition of junior to a pro just yet. Thus, joining an American college and playing college squash before turning pro made perfect sense to her. Akanksha spent the next four years from 2017 to 2021 playing for Trinity College, Hartford. Where she double majored in Political Science and Human Rights and was also a three time All American Awardee for Squash.

After graduating Trinity College in 2021, Akanksha joined the Corner Squash Academy based in Brooklyn, New York where she trains full time under the guidance of Mostafa Essam. 2022 will be her first year of competing on the pro tour. Akanksha is currently ranked 146 in the world and her latest achievements includes winning the 5k Guatemala Open PSA and being the finalist at the Kinetic 3k Women’s PSA Challenger.