NEW DELHI: Indian squash player Anahat Singh entered her maiden PSA Gold-level semifinal at the Silicon Valley Open in Redwood City, USA with a thrilling five-game win over Egyptian sixth seed Salma Hany.

A day after taking out Egyptian world No.3 and eight-time world champion Nour El Sherbini in straight games, the 18-year-old world No.15 Anahat beat world No.14 Hany 4-11, 11-8, 4-11, 11-2, 11-5 in 42 minutes in the quarterfinals.

"I've never played her before, and I didn't know what to expect coming on to the court. I have watched her play so many times, and she is so experienced on the PSA Tour," Anahat said of Hany after fighting back to win from 1-2 down.

"Especially after winning yesterday (against ElSherbini), I know that If I'm playing well I had a chance against whoever I played. I wanted to come in with that mindset," added the reigning world junior champion.

Anahat next plays Malaysian world No.4 and reigning Asian Games champion Sivasangari Subramaniam. The Indian had lost to her in the Asiad finals to settle for silver and would be hoping to extract revenge in the semifinals here.

Anahat revealed that she was a bit tired coming into the quarterfinal match but managed to raise her game just in time.

"...because of the emotions after winning yesterday. I just didn't want to let go of the momentum today, I wanted to give it my all and I'm happy to get one step further in the tournament," added the Delhi player, who won singles silver at the recent Asian Games.

Gold level tournament attract top-10 and top-20 players and offer higher ranking points to help players qualify for major finals. The prize money on offer is a minimum USD 100,000.

The Silicon Valley Open's prize purse is USD 143,500.