
New Delhi, Aug 19 (IANS) The Indian mixed doubles pair of Dhruv Kapila and Tanisha Crasto had a winning start to their BWF World Championships campaign on Wednesday after defeating Leong Iok Chong and Ng Weng Chi of Macao in the round of 32.
The 15th-seeded Indians, who had received a bye in the opening round, registered a 21-11, 21-11 here at the Indira Gandhi Sports Complex.
Dhruv and Tanisha are India’s remaining representatives in the mixed doubles event after Rohan Kapoor and Ruthvika Shivani Gadde fought hard against Canada’s Jonathan Bing Tsan Lai and Crystal Lai before losing 22-20, 19-21, 17-21.
Ashith Surya and Amrutha Pramuthesh also went out after a close contest against Turkey’s Emre Sonmez and Yasemen Bektas, losing 21-16, 29-30, 22-24.
Dhruv and Tanisha, playing their second BWF World Championships, will now carry India’s mixed doubles hopes into the third round. The duo, who had a quarterfinal exit at the 2025 BWF World Championships in Paris, will next take on the sixth-seed Chinese pair of Guo Xin Wa and Chen Fang Hui.
Tanisha and Dhruv have previously won the 2023 Odisha Masters Gold and bagged silver at the 2024 Syed Modi International. They also ranked World No. 15 in May 2025, their highest ranking as a mixed doubles pair.
Later in the day, In the women’s singles, former champion Pv Sindhu will play Wen Yu Zhang of Canada, while Unnati Hooda will face one of the more experienced players in the women’s singles draw the 13th seed Michelle Li of Canada.
Lakshya Sen will look to build on his opening-round victory when he takes on USA’s Garret Tan in the men’s singles round of 32. Ayush Shetty, who caused the major upset by eliminating the defending champion Shi Yu Qi in the opening round, will take on Dumindu Abeywickrama of Sri Lanka.
The men’s doubles pair M.R. Arjun and Hariharan Amsakarunan will face 15th seeds Kang Min Hyuk and Ki Dong Ju of Korea.
Earlier, India’s top women’s doubles combination of Gayatri Gopichand and Treesa Jolly upset 16th seeds Allison Lee and Lauren Lam with yet another solid performance on Day 2.
–IANS
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