India Junior International Grand Prix: Meet the doubles pair with perfect winning mantra
September 3, 2019, Pune
Sixteen-year-old Tanisha Crasto and 17-year-old Ishaan Bhatnagar – started playing mixed doubles event in 2017 and since then, they have never looked back and focus on getting better.
The duo stopped playing in the singles’ category at a very early age. “It was decision taken by our coaches and since the last 18 months, we have only been focusing on doubles and mixed events,” reply Crasto and Bhatnagar in tandem.
“Tanisha keeps on motivating the pair, even if we are down to 20-21. This helps us while playing,” explained Bhatnagar on his coordination with his partner. “Ishaan’s explanations help me a lot. His explanation and my motivation is the secret of our success. We are doing good and we will keep on improving,” added Crasto.
It was a selection tournament for the junior Asian badminton championship in Nagpur where the duo first played together and emerged victorious in 2017.
Last few weeks have been fruitful for Crasto and Bhatnagar as they have won titles recently in All India Junior Ranking Tournaments in Panchkula and Bengaluru.
On Sunday during the mixed doubles final of the Yonex Sunrise India Junior International Grand Prix, unseeded Crasto and Bhatnagar fought bravely for 53 minutes before going down 12-21, 22-20, 20-22 against second seeds Ratchapol Makkasasithorn and Benyapa Aimsaard at the Modern Sports Complex.
The Goa-Chhattisgarh pair was close to securing a victory, but small mistakes cost them the title.
“It was just about keeping the basics right, the result could had been different if I had not hit a smash out,” explains Bhatnagar, who trains with Crasto at Pullela Gopichand Badminton Academy in Hyderabad.
Before reaching the finals, the duo had defeated top seeded pair of Sirawit Sothon and Pornnicha Suwatnodom from Thailand in the quarter-final and they got better of Japanese pair of Tsubasa Kawamura and Hinata Suzuki in the semi-finals.
“Our quarter-final victory was the best. We defeated top seeds and it instilled in us a belief that we can beat better players. Even in the semi-final we faced a tough team to beat,” said Bhatnagar.
To improve on the big stage
The duo has only played one overseas tournament as a pair and going forward are aiming to to play more.
“Next, we will play the world junior championship in Russia and also the junior international badminton championship in Korea,” said Crasto.
Shetty and Reddy’s title win motivates us
The recent victory of Chirag Shetty and Satwiksairaj Rankireddy at the BWF Super 500 tournament has given new hope to young generation shuttlers.
“It motivates us a lot and we have seen players who shifted from singles and have done better in doubles. We have also been doing good and it is just that we need to improve more,” said Crasto.
Performance during the India Junior International Grand Prix 2019
Ishaan Bhatnagar and Tanisha Crasto
Finals: lost to 2-Ratchapol Makkasasithorn and Benyapa Aimsaard (Tha) 12-21, 22-20, 20-22
Semi-final: beat 4-Tsubasa kawamura and Hinata Suzuki (Jpn) 18-21, 21-16, 21-13
Quarterfinal: 1-Sirawit Sothon and Pornnicha Suwatnodom (Tha) 23-21, 20-22, 21-16
First round: 8-Edwin Joy and Shruti Mishra (Ind) 21-14, 21-6
