Meet Tanisha Crasto, 21YO Shuttler Smashes Her Way To Paris Olympics

Tanisha Crasto has emerged as one of India’s youngest sports stars. The 21-year-old badminton player from Goa is representing the nation at the Paris Olympics 2024 by teaming up with Ashwini Ponnappa. The impeccable player had consistently won eight distinctive tournaments from April 2023 to February 2024, including the All India Senior Ranking Badminton Tournament, the Nantes International Challenge, the Senior National Badminton Championship, and the Badminton Asia Team Championship. Her impressive performance led her to secure a spot in the Paris Olympics 2024, which will take place from July 27 to August 5.

Who Is Tanisha Crasto?

In the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, PV Sindhu was the only Indian badminton player to win a medal by winning a bronze medal in Women’s Singles.  But concurrently, this year, all eyes are on Tanisha to bring home medals for the nation in the women's doubles.

Being one of the more prominent faces amongst the 117 Indian contingents at the Paris Olympics 2024, Tanisha Crasto's journey to securing qualification qualifications was one of struggles and sacrifices from both herself and her parents.

Tanisha's father, Clifford Crasto made his then 15-year-old daughter Tanisha pursue her training at the Pullela Gopichand Academy in Hyderabad. She had her first day there on her birthday by marking the building stone to a definitive struggle-filled journey to becoming an Olympian. Having spent the entirety of life in Dubai till then, the decision brought a lot of challenges for the Crasto family. However, the story did find its mark when Tanisha moulded up her pathway, realizing her badminton dreams with qualification for the Paris Olympics 2024.

"I took her to India on her birthday. It was a very brave decision, an emotional decision to leave her alone in a different country as she was born and brought up in Dubai. So, it was hard for both of us. But we knew that she had taken the correct path and we supported her. We are happy with that decision and also with where she has reached now," Clifford Crasto told PTI.

Now, Castro will be partnering with Ashwini Ponnappa on the auspicious day. The duo decided to team up over an Asian food lunch in Hyderabad in 2022.“We both love food. During one of our meals together, we discussed the idea of playing together. Our playing styles complement each other, and it was worth taking a chance,” Crasto said. Currently ranked 19th globally, the pair's game styles complement each other very well.

Being one of the more prominent names amongst the 117 Indian contingents at the games, Tanisha's journey consisted of huge sacrifices from both herself and her parents. Grappling from a very early age, Tanisha emerged as an eye-catching talent during her time in Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries.

Tanisha initially represented Bahrain, securing the women's doubles title at the 2016 Bahrain International Challenge. At just the age of 14, she became the youngest singles champion at the UAE Open. By 2017, she had also started competing for Goa in India and went on to win multiple titles in junior and senior national tournaments. Although, her father had to leave his job to accompany her in the majority of her bouts. 

Despite certain hardships, the persistence and determination of the badminton player backed up by constant support from her family, she managed to excel beyond heights in the sport from the very beginning. With Tanisha's eye fixed on Olympics glory, Clifford and his family have already grabbed onto their tickets to Paris to cheer for their daughter and see the culmination of all their struggles.