India’s mixed doubles pair of Dhruv Kapila and Tanisha Crasto advanced to the round of 16 at the BWF World Championships after defeating Macao’s Leong Iok Chong and Ng Weng Chi in straight games on Wednesday.
The 15th-seeded Indian duo, who received a first-round bye, registered a comfortable 21-11, 21-11 victory at the Indira Gandhi Sports Complex.
Dhruv and Tanisha are now India’s sole representatives in the mixed doubles draw after Rohan Kapoor and Ruthvika Shivani Gadde were beaten by Canada’s Jonathan Bing Tsan Lai and Crystal Lai 22-20, 19-21, 17-21 in a closely fought contest.
Ashith Surya and Amrutha Pramuthesh also bowed out after losing to Turkey’s Emre Sonmez and Yasemen Bektas 21-16, 29-30, 22-24.
Playing in their second BWF World Championships, Dhruv and Tanisha will next face sixth-seeded Chinese pair Guo Xin Wa and Chen Fang Hui. The Indian duo had reached the quarterfinals at the 2025 World Championships in Paris.
Dhruv and Tanisha won the 2023 Odisha Masters and finished runners-up at the 2024 Syed Modi International. They achieved a career-best world ranking of No. 15 in May 2025.
In other matches later on Wednesday, former champion PV Sindhu will face Canada’s Wen Yu Zhang in women’s singles, while Unnati Hooda takes on 13th seed Michelle Li, also of Canada.
In men’s singles, Lakshya Sen will meet USA’s Garret Tan in the round of 32, while Ayush Shetty, who stunned defending champion Shi Yu Qi in the opening round, will face Sri Lanka’s Dumindu Abeywickrama.
In men’s doubles, India’s M R Arjun and Hariharan Amsakarunan will take on 15th seeds Kang Min Hyuk and Ki Dong Ju of South Korea.
Earlier, India’s leading women’s doubles pair of Gayatri Gopichand and Treesa Jolly pulled off an upset by defeating 16th seeds Allison Lee and Lauren Lam on Day 2 of the championships.
(IANS Inputs)
