Focus is on Paris Olympics spot, ready for next season, says Dhruv Kapila

The shuttler reached his career-high rankings climbing two spots to World Ranking 21 in the mixed doubles category.

Dhruv Kapila partnering with MR Arjun has had a great 2022 season. The pair reached a career-best World Ranking of 21 with the Olympics cycle around the corner. He was part of the Thomas Cup-winning Indian team in the men’s doubles section. He recently won the Maharashtra International Challenge in September 2022.

Changes made

Dhruv Kapila and MR Arjun have beaten the top 20 players this 2022 season after having fought well in most of the matches. Compared to the last year this is a record-breaking year getting to World Ranking 21.

“This year we kept it very simple. Last year we were losing pretty close matches and even from the start of this season, we have lost a few close matches. We have started to work on the finishing stages of the match where we were losing but it has started to work and have started to get positive results.”

Mixed doubles

Dhruv has played only quite a few matches in mixed doubles both in the junior with Meghna Jakkampudi and the senior circuit with Sikki Reddy. He would like to concentrate more on the men’s doubles now.

“As of now, I cannot tell about the future now and the primary focus will be on the men’s doubles section.”

Growth of Indian doubles

Indian doubles have seen tremendous changes in the men’s doubles section with the emergence of Satwik Sairaj Rankireddy/Chirag Shetty along with Dhruv/Arjun, and Pranjala/Garaga. The appointment of foreign coaches like Mathias Boe along with the support of Gopichand has played a major part in the success.

“In previous years there were no specific coaches for the doubles which are for 5 to 6 years. But now we have a dedicated coach and Gopichand sir has taken the initiative in the past 2 years. Gopi sir is taking full care of us asking about the need of the players in specific and what we have to do to perform better. So it is collective teamwork providing the results.”

Changing the doubles partner

Dhruv Kapila in his junior days was mostly pairing up with Pranjala Garaga winning the Kharkiv International in 2018. He then started partnering MR Arjun in 2019 with the assistance of the coach.  

“It was not my decision but the decision of the Indonesian coach Flendy Limpele and Gopichand sir’s decision to change the partnership 3 years back in 2019.”

BWF World Championships 2022

In his first World Championships partnering MR Arjun, the pair progressed to the quarterfinals missing out on the medal by a small margin. The pair beat higher-ranked Astrup/Rasmussen from Denmark and Terry Hee/Low Kean from Singapore. Previously too they have beaten the top 20 players showing great potential and progressing in the right direction 

“From the start of the season, we have been playing good matches and winning against quality higher ranked players. We do not think about their rankings but see what best we can give to win the game. It gives us confidence when we beat higher-ranked players.”

Expectations going forward

Next season will be an important year with the Paris Olympics cycle starting in early 2023 and continuing for a year. The points gained in each tournament will be added to the one-year cycle. The top players in the 1-year cycle will be qualified.

“From the next season, we will fight for the Paris Olympics spot and are ready from the start of the next season”