Alia Kankaria is all of 10 years old.

But the young squash player from the city already has a few feathers in her cap.

Last month, Alia won the SRAFTKL International Junior Open Squash Championship held in Kuala Lumpur. This was her first international crown, which she clinched by defeating the current Asia No. 1, Malaysia’s Keerti Pradha Junivar Bala, 12-10, 11-7, 6-11, 11-7.

Alia clinched the under-11 title at the nationals last October, the first girl from Bengal to win the squash nationals in any age category.

So what does the Class V student of RP Goenka International School wish to be when she grows up?

“World champion. That’s what I want to be,” the confident kid told The Telegraph on Saturday without a moment’s hesitation.

Alia is currently in Jaipur to participate in the Northern Slam, an Asian Tour event, which is part of the Asian Junior Super Series.

What prompted her to take to the game from age six was that her father Saurav and brother Ayaan also play the game. Saurav, in fact, was a national level player himself, while Ayaan too plays on the national circuit in the under-15 category.

Alia is doing a great job of balancing her studies with her first love, squash. She practises two and half hours daily after school and works out in the mornings before she leaves for school. The school too has been very cooperative since she often has to miss classes to take part in competitions.

“I watch the leading world players of the day — like Nour El Sherbini and Nouran Gohar — play and try to learn from their games,” Alia added.

Her coach Sandeep Yadav has been doing a commendable job with her training.

In her very first international tournament, the Scottish Junior Open held last December in Edinburgh, Alia finished runner-up. No mean task that, since players from over 30 countries had taken part in this tournament.

In the British Junior Open held in Birmingham in January, she finished ninth.

Alia has been called for the India team trials on May 13 for an event in Korea and hopes to make the cut.

Her calendar is quite full. She travels for the Singapore Open in May and the Dutch Junior Open in July.

Determined and confident Alia intends to fetch her country many laurels in the years to come.