Tanisha Crasto and Dhruv Kapila to work with psychologist to help them break into top tier in mixed doubles badminton

Indian Express

20-05-2025

Tanisha Crasto and Dhruv Kapila, mixed doubles partners, are both animated and headstrong individuals who have started winning on the badminton court. Their combined on-court game is suitably vivacious, but temperaments can range from methodical to mercurial, going from 0 to 100 in a matter of moments.
The three coaches responsible for raising their performance at Hyderabad – Manu Attri, Tan Kim Her and Pullela Gopichand, understand the mixed doubles dynamic and that Tanisha and Dhruv both need an emotional referee, a both-sides negotiator. Their recent on-boarding by Mumbai-based Reliance Foundation is expected to deliver the solution: a joint psychologist for India's rising XD duo, who will smoothen the edges and help the pairing through firefighting, albeit gently, should disagreements arise.
'A psychologist is very important because sometimes Dhruv and I might not be on the same page. A professional can help both of us understand situations better,' Tanisha, now World No 18, says. A dedicated mental trainer will be assigned to the two, in coming days, besides them gaining access to physios and trainers.
Dhruv, is a super-driven Ludhiana shuttler, a hard hitter and very prone to allowing aggression to consume his composure. Much like Chirag Shetty, he likes taking on plenty of responsibility and can judge himself harshly in case of mistakes.
His back-court game is slowly getting nuanced as Attri and Malaysian coach Tan drill in patience into him, and his flair begins to construct clever points. But the shuttler who moved from up north to Hyderabad in early teens, could do with some pristine Punjabi levity in life, learn to enjoy the battles and delegate pressure to his younger partner.
Tanisha, still only 21, is a cannister of uncontainable energy. Equally ambitious, she can be crackling at the net with her fearless aggression and diving around midcourt. She's already an Olympian, she needs to make this combination of fusillade and fiendfyre, work. Fire and ice combinations are known to temper each other's shortcomings.
4 Chinese and 4 Malaysian pairings are ranked above the Indians, besides others. 'It's going to take a lot of time to crack the Top 10,' says Dhruv, 25.
'Mixed doubles is tough. We have to improve everything, skill, techniques, how we handle pressure, and how we train. So the support – of coaches, physios, trainers, psychologists becomes important,' Dhruv says.
The pairing enter the Malaysia Masters upbeat after the Sudirman Cup showing, where they were the sole spark in the Indonesia tie. The duo had a good run at German Open in early summer and have been gutsy playing the unbreakable Chinese, though the Top 5 scalps haven't fetched up. Yet. 'In the opening match at Sudirman (where India led with XD) there was lots of pressure, but despite trailing 16-19, we beat Indonesia. We went with the flow, and we have both been trying to sort out (intensity-related nerves) because it's crucial in last stages,' Dhruv says.
What works is the immense respect Dhruv has for Tanisha. 'She's great on court, no matter what happens, she pushes herself to win every point. Right now, I'll change nothing about her. Maybe she can be more aggressive,' Dhruv says. Fiery game knows raging game. While Tanisha's front-court errors (mostly precision ones) draw cluckings from critics, her coaches and partner reckon she can Hulk out even more like a Goan gush with her screaming aggression, and not merely tiptoe.
Still, mixed doubles invariably fragments into 80 percent of back court responsibility for the male player. 'Tanisha needs to be prepared for the 20 percent,' he says. Her energy though is a perfect foil for the brooding back court enforcer. Away from the court, neither will back off easily and given their flaring natures, a common psychologist can be a useful arbiter.
Both need to be physically and mentally ready for long rallies which these days easily skim 70-80 shots. 'Actually, we are prepared for long rallies, and our drills are geared towards those prolonged exchanges. Defenses are so good now, that you can't keep hammering down smashes,' Dhruv says. 'Our mentality is similar – both aggressive, so that helps.'
Their serving is getting better with every international outing, but the first three strokes – vastly different in men's doubles and mixed doubles – are a challenge for Dhruv.
The duo came together in 2023 after their earlier partnerships in mens doubles and mixed were fraying due to fitness issues for partners. Dhruv was persuaded to stay patient, a second priority, as Tanisha surged to qualify for Paris Olympics in women's doubles with Ashwini Ponappa. December of 2024 saw both reorient and prioritise XD and they entered Top 20 earlier this month. 'It's going pretty well but I have to take more initiative as compared to men's doubles,' he says.
Like Tanisha shifted from Dubai to Hyderabad at 16, Dhruv too had found his early years while moving from Ludhiana, grappling with a mix of loneliness and excessive self-pressure to show big results. Mixed doubles partnerships around the world are notorious for turning combustible. It will help to have a common psychologist act as a bookmark to keep them on the same page. There's a bunch of entertaining chapters to be written on this duo.