Mulheim (Germany): India’s Dhruv Kapila and Tanisha Crasto crashed out of the German Open 2025, losing to the Indonesian pair of Rehan Naufal Kusharjanto and Gloria Emanuelle Widjaja in the mixed doubles semifinals on Court 1 at Westenergie Sporthalle here on Saturday.
The Indian pair, seeded eighth, put up a superb fight and came back after losing a close first game to win the second but could not maintain the momentum in the decider and went down 23-25, 21-10. 15-21 in exactly one hour.
This ended India’s campaign in the German Open, a BWF World Tour Super 300 event with prize money of US $240,000, as this was the last pair in contention here as male shuttler Tharun Mannepalli, and women’s singles players Unnati Hooda, Rakshitha Ramraj and Tasnim Mir had all crashed out in earlier rounds.
Tanisha and Dhruv, the Indian pair ranked 30th in the mixed doubles, put up a spirited fight in Mulheim but lost to the recently formed Indonesian pair of Rehan Kusharjanto and Gloria Widjaja.
They made a strong start and edged ahead with a 4-2 lead. However, the Indian duo soon found itself on the back foot as Gloria Widjaja, the world No. 10 mixed doubles player, and 26th-ranked Rehan Kusharjanto raced to a 12-7 lead.
The Indian duo fought back, winning five consecutive points to draw level at 12-12. Tanisha and Dhruv then saved four game points before eventually conceding on the fifth.
Like in the first game, Tanisha and Dhruv began the second game with aggressive intent. However, this time, the Indian pair converted their strong start into a five-point lead at the break and went to clinch the game convincingly.
The decider saw a tight battle, with the Indian duo holding a narrow one-point advantage at the break. At 13-13, the Indonesians upped their intensity and sealed the match with five consecutive points.
Earlier in the quarterfinals, Tanisha and Dhruv got the better of China’s Gao Jia Xuan and Wu Meng Ying in straight games.
The Indian badminton squad will now be seen in action at the Orleans Masters BWF Super 300 tournament in France starting next week.
(IANS)
