Badminton Asia C'ships: Indian campaign ends as Tanisha-Dhruv exit in quarters

The Indian campaign at the 2025 Badminton Asia Championships in Ningbo, China came to a close on Friday as the mixed doubles pair of Tanisha Crasto and Dhruv Kapila suffered a loss in the quarter-finals.

Crasto and Kapila, the only Indians to make it to the quarters in the continental competition, went down 20-22, 13-21 in straight games to Hong Kong's Tang Chun Man and Tse Ying Sueit 20-22, 13-21 in 41 minutes.

Up against the fifth seeds, Crasto-Kapila did start well in the match, getting the better off their opponents in the early exchanges. 

However, it was Tang-Tse who had an 11-10 lead at the first mid-game interval as they started to get into their rhythm.

The Indians did put up a brave fight, unwilling to go down easily. They even saved a game point before eventually surrendering the opening game 20-22.

The change of sides for the second game only compounded the problems for Crasto and Kapila. India's highest ranked doubles pair never found their footing as they conceded the second game 13-21 to bow out of contention.

Earlier in the competition, PV Sindhu had bowed out in the Round of 16 as did the young Kiran George and Priyanshu Rajawat in men's singles. 

The more experienced HS Prannoy and Lakshya Sen, meanwhile, had their campaign cut short in the very first round. 

This is the second successive edition of the Badminton Asia Championships where no Indian will feature on the podium across all five disciplines.  

The last Indians to win a medal in the prestigious continental event were the men's doubles pair of Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty when they clinched a gold medal back in 2023.