India Open 2024: How Ashwini, Crasto won hearts with subtle racket exchange

The Indian women's doubles pair of Ashwini and Crasto had the crowd swooning to their tunes at the KD Jadhav Indoor Hall in Delhi but were unfortunate to lose a three-set thriller

Ashwini Ponappa and Tanisha Crasto, the top-ranked Indian women's doubles pair, showed some brilliance despite going down against the higher-ranked Thailand duo of Jongkolphan Kititharakul and Rawinda Prajongjai at the KD Jadhav Indoor Hall in New Delhi on Wednesday, January 17.

The Indians, who lost the first set 5-21, came back well in the second one and took it 21-18. However, it was the rallies and a certain racket change in the middle of one of them by Ponappa that awed the entire crowd at the indoor sports complex.

Racket Exchange that Shifted Momentum

The Indians were trailing 16-15 when Ashwini wanted to change the racket. Tanisha, who calls her Didi (elder sister) even during the games, asked her to go for it. Ashwini herself wasn't sure of it as she would concede later on in a mixed-zone interaction with the press after the match.

However, that racket exchange fuelled them and shifted the momentum of the game, taking the Indan ahead, riding on the high wave of enthusiasm and crowd support. They won three back-to-back points and lost just one game point to seal the set 21-18.

"Ahh…I mean the fact that Tanisha called out saying, 'Go out'. Then, I was stuck, not knowing what to do. So as she called out, I managed to run out and get back without falling (laughs) and we managed to win that point, so yeah it was a great rally," Ashwini responded to a query by Business Standard.

Constant Call of Didi

Tanisha, who is just 20, calls Ashwini, the gold medal winner with Jwala Gutta from the 2010 Commonwealth Games Didi. Whenever she was unsure of which shuttle she wanted to take or which was to be left, she would shout, "Didi." This was a standout point throughout their rallies and the audience enjoyed it as well.

"I think we have come a long way., It has been great playing with Didi, I think she is the best doubles player in India. Our communication is getting better and we are trying to enjoy every match," Crasto said about her partnership with 34-year-old Ashwini.

Blown Away in The Third Set

The Indians, though, did not feed off the crowd support and success of the second set and lost six straight points in the third one, trailing 1-6. Crasto, in an attempt to kill a point, almost crashed into the net and the scoreline read 2-8. Another unforced error saw them trail further to 2-11 at the mid-game interval.

Trailing at 7-16, Crasto once again showed her brilliance, going down on both her knees and managing to return it in a manner that it went past the Thai backcourt shuttler. The world number 20 Indian pair was, however, unable to keep up.

The Indians won three back-to-back points, but an unforced error from Crasto made them lose momentum. The focus was undoubtedly shifting to court two, where men's single stars Jonathan Christie of Indonesia and NG Ka Long of Hong Kong were taking on each other.

But just as the eyes shifted back to centre court one could hear a loud 'nice' from the Indian coaching chair as Crasto put the shuttle past the net very deftly. But that was the last of the good points for the Indian pair as they lost the third and final set 11-21 and thereby the match 5-21, 21-18 and 21-11.

Audience Thrilled to Watch Ashwini-Crasto Play

Rupesh, a buddling shuttler in the audience, was excited to see Ashwini and Crasto put up such a tough fight but, at the same time, was disappointed that they could not win. "I think it was one of the best games that Indians have been involved in so far," he said. "I think the Lakshya- Rjawat game was an India affair and Prannoy had it easy. The rest of the Indians didn't put up much fight, so this had to be the best match so far. They might not have won the game, but certainly won our hearts," added the young fan.