Ashwini Ponappa-Tanisha Crasto enter Top 25 with third career women’s doubles title at Guwahati Masters badminton | Badminton News
Tanisha Crasto’s boundless enthusiasm makes her one of the most energetic and excitable talents in Indian badminton. But that overflowing energy can at times combust into errors as she gains experience and learns shuttle’s temperance the hard way – from losses. But her partner Ashwini Ponappa is glad for how Tanisha is – brimming with fireworks.“I’ve been playing for so many years now. It’s refreshing to play alongside someone who’s so excited to just play big matches on the court, who’s determined to do well everyday. As a pair, our capacity to learn and implement plans is our strength,” Ashwini says after the pair won their third title in Guwahati after winning the Nantes International Challenge and Abu Dhabi Masters since starting to play together earlier this year.
On Sunday, Ashwini-Tanisha beat Chinese Taipei’s Sung Shuo Yun and Yu Chien Hui 21-13, 21-19 and will now climb up to World No. 23 on Tuesday. It sets up the race for Paris qualification nicely for India, with Treesa Jolly-Gayatri Gopichand also pushing to make the cut. “It’s awesome that there’s two pairs contending now. But as much as Paris is on everyone’s mind constantly, I’m only looking at doing well at every tournament,” Ashwini says.
THE CHAMPIONS SPEAK 🗣️
Tanisha/Ashwini share their thoughts after winning their 2️⃣nd #BWFTourSuper100 this year 👇#YonexSunriseGuwahatiMasters2023#BWFTourSuper100#IndiaontheRise#Badminton pic.twitter.com/gpYSJR6Pra
— BAI Media (@BAI_Media) December 10, 2023
On Sunday, things got a little tricky in the second game, as the Taiwanese found their range and came from behind to level at 19-all. A few returns waded wide, racquets clashed once, and some serves were attacked. Unforced errors at crucial moments sprung up, but this week, the Indians held their nerve. Ashwini stayed relaxed and Tanisha brought out some fine variations mid-rally, to close out the final.
There were makes last Sunday in the Syed Modi final, and some heartbreaking losses, in Finland and in the quarters at the Nationals. But the duo is learning to find a way. “There are strains and pressures on the body. But matches also take an emotional toll. We are learning to be a lot calmer, dig deep and it was good to win after two tough weeks,” Ashwini says.
At 34 and still looking fighting fit on court, the body demands she pays it minute attention now. In Lucknow, she ended up eating something horribly disagreeable, and played the pre-quarters feeling lethargic, “not completely in the present.” The body felt tighter and stiffer, and another lesson was learnt. “I was always that person who said ‘I can eat anything’ and didn’t understand the importance of what I ate. I can’t afford to do that now as I grow older. I’ve realised this year I have to be very careful of what I put inside the body and how certain food affects you even mentally. Badminton is gruelling enough with aches and pains and I don’t need to damage my body further with what I eat,” the veteran says. Her favourite chocolates have had to go out of sight. “I love chocolates. But it’s a strict no-no for a while now.”
Starting from the back
Since they combined at Indonesia Masters at the start of the year where they made the quarters and set the tone, the pairing has also had to travel to a few tournaments at their own expense to collect ranking points. “I told myself, ‘Cool, I take it as a challenge. We have to prove ourselves.’ But it can be challenging monetarily, and I’m glad the Karnataka government, ONGC and Victor are helping out. After being part of the team, it’s different to take care of stuff all yourself. But we have the support of coaches. People only comment on losses, but climbing rankings is tough,” she says.
At Nantes, they had no one on the coach’s chair. In the quarters, the all-out hitting wasn’t clicking. “I’m happy that week, we were capable of understanding what went wrong, and changing strategy,” Ashwini says.
Winners of the First ever #BWFTourSuper100 tournament in Guwahati 🏸💥 #YonexSunriseGuwahatiMasters2023#IndiaontheRise#Badminton pic.twitter.com/gEBtFtppYS
— BAI Media (@BAI_Media) December 10, 2023
In Abu Dhabi, it helped that Tanisha had her physio around. “Just to get the body released the physio was good. When you play continuous tough matches, it’s difficult without a physio,” she says. Also recovery has become harder for her over the years, whilst once upon a time she took rejuvenation and readiness of the body for granted.
Every loss in women’s doubles brings a deluge of trolls and advice on rejigging of pairs and how to play. “Not just Treesa and Gayatri, I’ve faced it, Sikki, Tanisha get it bad. All of us face it. That’s the sad part of social media but it’s how the world is seen now. I’ve had my fair share of negativity with people saying, ‘oh! These guys are having a good time.’ We can’t be playing 24 hours. I say, well, if you don’t like us, don’t follow us.”
India’s Ashwini Ponnappa and Tanisha Crasto during the women’s doubles final badminton event against Chinese Taipei’s Sung Shuo Yun and Yu Chien Hui at the Guwahati Masters 2023, in Guwahati, Sunday, Dec. 10, 2023. (PTI Photo)
Ashwini struggled massively with mental health spirals from this, before she found stoic composure and got a grip on harsh assessments. “There’s enough criticism from ourselves and those close to us. Everyone has freedom to voice negative opinions and it’s shared freely, but we must look after our mental health. If someone doesn’t have anything good to say, we don’t need them. They don’t need to have access to our social media,” she says.
While the pair bounced back from losses and reached the Top 25, Tanisha and Ashwini took their time and joint dinners to talk out the contours of the partnership. In Denmark, Ashwini went to an Amusement Park after some 20 years for a memorable day off. “I was glad Tanisha was up for all the rides!” she says. For Ashwini isn’t one to miss out on any of life’s roller-coasters.
