PANAJI

Goa’s Tanisha Crasto has done it yet again. The 15-year-old upcoming shuttler along with her partner Aditi Bhatt from Uttarakhand won Gold in Girls doubles under 17 at the All India Sub Junior Badminton Ranking Tournament in Hyderabad. This has been the pair’s second Gold in two successive All India Ranking tournaments within last few days, the last one coming at the All India at Nagpur. In Nagpur, Tanisha also won a gold partnering Ishaan Bhatnagar (Chhattisgarh) in the U17 Mixed doubles, making it 3 Golds for her this season. In the finals played at Pullela Gopichand Academy in Gachibowli, Hyderabad, Tanisha and Aditi beat the fifth seeded pairing of Shruti Mishra and Shailja Shukla from Uttar Pradesh 23-21, 21-16 to romp home victorious. The two tournaments at Nagpur and Hyderabad are selection tournaments for the prestigious Asian Badminton Championships for Juniors to be held later this year in Myanmar.

Tanisha who put up superlative performances in both these championships was ecstatic with her win. “I am really happy on winning Gold and I would like to thank my parents and coaches for supporting me. I will aim for performing better in the upcoming tournaments. My target is to be Women’s number one shuttler and win an Olympic Gold. It is a long journey but I am working really hard to reach that level”, said Tanisha, delighted after pocketing the doubles Gold. Tanisha after her good performances has brightened her chances of getting selected for the Asian Championships.

“We congratulate Tanisha. She is a doubles specialist and plays really well. In her first ever tournament in Goa, she gave a tough fight to several senior players in the Goan circuit and within a short time is performing exceptionally well at the National level. Her career graph is moving incredibly fast”, said Sandeep Heble,  Goa Badminton Association Secretary in a congratulatory message.