"This will be my last, but Tanisha has a long way to go" - Ashwini Ponnappa in tears after Paris Olympics exit
India's women's doubles duo in badminton Ashwini Ponnappa and Tanisha Crasto were knocked out on July 30 from the 2024 Paris Olympics. They suffered their third straight defeat to Australia's Setyana Mapasa and Angela Yu. The Australian pair handed Ponnappa-Crasto a dominating defeat of 21-15 and 21-10.
Post the match, Ponnappa broke down into tears as she announced that this was her last Olympic Games. She said to PTI:
"This will be my last, but Tanisha has a long way to go. It takes a toll emotionally and mentally, I can’t go through this again. It is not easy, you can take all these if you are a little younger. Having played for so long, I can’t take it anymore."
Prior to joining hands with Tanisha Crasto, Ashwini Ponnappa partnered legendary Jwala Gutta in the doubles, a duo which existed till 2017. Together they had won numerous accolades, including a gold at the 2010 Commonwealth Games. In the Olympics, the two shared the stage in 2012 and 2016, but could not make it past the initial stages.
Ashwini Ponnappa certainly wanted to go past the group stages this time out, keeping in mind the quality she and her partner Tanisha Crasto possess. She mentioned after the game:
"We wanted to get a win today. As much as we would have liked the outcome to be different and better, the biggest takeaway I and Tanisha had is we had quite a journey, getting to in the Olympics. It has not been easy."
Similar to her counterpart, Tanisha Crasto, who has a 13-year age gap with Ponnappa, was seen in tears. Crasto said:
"She (Ashwini) has been my biggest support here. We had wanted a better result and held out heads high. She motivated me every time."
Ponnappa-Crasto's journey at the Paris Olympics 2024
There were high hopes among faithfuls about Ashwini Ponnappa and Tanisha Crasto making it to the knockout stages of the women's doubles event. However, the pair suffered losses in each of their encounters. In their first Group C game, they went down to South Korea's Kong Hee-yong and Kim So-yeong 21-18, 21-10.
The second group fixture saw them lock horns with Japan's Chiharu Shida and Nami Matsuyama. Yet again, the duo were dominated, as the game ended 21-11, 21-12 in Japan's favor. The third game was a must win for the Indian pair but unfortunately, they again went down, this time to Australian duo Setyana Mapasa and Angela Yu.