Tanisha Crasto and Dhruv Kapila bowed out of the BWF World Championships in the pre-quarterfinals on Thursday, 20 August, as the Indian mixed doubles pair suffered a second-game collapse at the Indira Gandhi Indoor Stadium in New Delhi. The defeat ends their home-ground campaign earlier than hoped, with Kapila publicly accepting blame for the unforced errors that swung the match.

How the Match Unfolded

The Indian pair stayed competitive through much of the opening game, trading points and keeping the contest tight. However, the second game proved decisive — a string of simple, self-inflicted errors handed momentum to their opponents, and once the lead widened, Crasto and Kapila could not claw their way back despite a late attempt to recover.

Crasto acknowledged the sting of losing on home soil. 'We are equally disappointed that we couldn't put up the best show, especially here on home ground. It was a good fight in the first set, but somehow we didn't have any control in the second, and they took advantage of that and played really well. But we take full responsibility for the fact that we didn't play up to the mark today,' she said.

The Error Chain That Decided It

According to Crasto, the collapse was not triggered by any single exchange but by a cumulative build-up of cheap errors. 'We started giving really easy points from our hand, very simple errors, and that kept building up. We couldn't break the rhythm, and eventually the lead went off quite big. We did try to cover up, but we weren't able to do that,' she explained.

Kapila was more direct in his self-assessment, pointing the finger squarely at his own performance in the second game. 'The plan was pretty simple, but in the second game, I think it's my mistake. I should have done better there, but eventually I started making a lot of errors, which took us a lot of time; they took a lead, and then we were under pressure. There's no plan if you keep making easy mistakes, and even the coach, whatever he says, it won't work. So yeah, I should have done a bit better,' he said.

Significance of the Home Exit

Losing at a home World Championships carries particular weight. The Indira Gandhi Indoor Stadium had been packed with partisan support, and the pair had entered the tournament with the backing of a vocal crowd. Exiting at the pre-quarterfinal stage — before the last eight — means India's mixed doubles challenge at the 2025 BWF World Championships is now over. Notably, performing under home conditions is often cited as an advantage, making the collapse in the second game harder to explain away.

What Comes Next

Kapila indicated the pair will not dwell on the defeat for long. He has already identified the China Open as the immediate next target and stressed the importance of learning from the errors on court. 'Of course, I have to work on it. Whatever happened on the court today, I have to learn from it, and the next tournament is the China Open,' he said. The pair will need to sharpen their composure in high-pressure second games if they are to make deeper runs in the tournaments ahead.