The Indian combination of Jwala Gutta and Ashwini Ponnappa disappointed in their opening outing in the women’s doubles at the Rio Olympics badminton event, losing in straight games to the world No. 1 Japanese pair of Ayaka Takahashi and Misaki Matsumoto on Thursday.
Jwala-Ashwini were beaten 15-21, 10-21 in the Group A match, which lasted 36 minutes.
The Indians play the world No. 11 Dutch pair of Eefje Muskens and Selena Piek in their second group match on Friday.
There was disappointment in the men’s doubles too as the pair of Manu Attri and Sumeeth Reddy lost to the world No. 2 Indonesian pairing of Mohammad Ahsan and Hendra Setiawan in a Group D match 18-21, 13-21 victory in 32 minutes.
They meet the Chinese pair of Biao Chai and Wei Hong next.
