To lift the spirits of the Indian contingent at the 2016 Rio Olympics after a rather insipid show so far, a strong performance from the top shuttlers was needed. India’s golden girls – Saina Nehwal and PV Sindhu – provided exactly that even though the doubles exponents fell short at the Riocentro – Pavilion 4 on Thursday.
Later in the day, the only men’s singles player from the country, Kidambi Srikanth too won his opener, making it a perfect day for the singles shuttlers.
2012 London Olympics bronze medallist Saina Nehwal opened her quest for another medal against home hope Lohaynny Vicente. Aged just 20, the Brazilian refused to be overawed by the occasion and put up some impressive resistance before going down 17-21, 17-21 to the Indian star in their Group G clash.
Nehwal raced away to 6-2 in the first game but Vicente chased her by smartly moving her all over the court and made it 10-11 at the interval. She even levelled the game at 17-17 but the Indian showed her class to win four points on the trot and take the opening game.
Congrats @NSaina for spectacular win against Lohaynny Vicente #BRA by 21-17, 21-17 in 1st Group G match. #JeetoRio pic.twitter.com/WAFAAdWc3q
— Dept of Sports MYAS (@IndiaSports) August 11, 2016
Buoyed by the vociferous chants of the crowd, the young Brazilian gave her all in the second game and closed in to make it 11-14. The fearless attitude helped as she even saved three match points while trailing 14-21 before the Indian closed out the match in 39 minutes.
Next up for Saina Nehwal: World No. 61 Marija Ulitina of Ukraine on Sunday.
SINDHU DOMINATES
The other big medal hope, PV Sindhu was up against Hungarian Laura Sarosi. 54 ranking spots separated the Indian and the 64th ranked Sarosi and it was evident in their Group M encounter.
Sindhu was every bit the devastating attacking player that she is known to be. In 27 minutes, the 21-year-old raced to a 21-8, 21-9 victory.
Well played #PVSindhu !!#IND's PV Sindhu beats L. Sarosi 21-8 21-9 in the 1st round match #Badminton at #Rio2016. pic.twitter.com/4oKytIYSH6
— Prasar Bharati (@prasarbharati) August 11, 2016
Right from the outset, the two-time World Championship bronze medallist dictated the match, never allowing any dip in her intensity. Her smashes and delicate touch at the net totally ruled this clash as the Hungarian failed to do anything to make a dent in Sindhu’s confidence.
Next up for PV Sindhu: World No. 20 Li Michelle of Canada on Sunday.
SRIKANTH OVERCOMES A STRONG CHALLENGE
85th ranked Mexican Lino Munoz was not deemed to be a dangerous opponent for the World No. 11 Kidambi Srikanth in the Indian’s first match of Group H. But the 25-year-old managed to trouble Srikanth for a good part of the second game before succumbing to an 11-21, 17-21 loss.
Lino made a strong start and led 7-5 following which the Indian was able to regroup to seal the first game. The second game was a dramatic, topsy-turvy affair where the lead changed hands constantly.
#RioWithTOI @srikidambi defeats Mexico's @LinoMunoz802 21-11, 21-17 in his opening group match pic.twitter.com/JUlGoNYBvC
— TOI Sports News (@TOISportsNews) August 12, 2016
At the lemon break, the Indian had a slim advantage of 11-9. The Mexican soon snatched the lead to surge ahead 16-13. Srikanth, however, was able to wrest away the momentum and finish the match in 41 minutes.
Next up for Kidambi Srikanth: World No. 50 Henri Hurskainen of Sweden on Sunday.
DISAPPOINTMENT IN DOUBLES
Earlier, the Indian doubles teams failed to bring any cheer for the nation. The former World Championships bronze medallists Jwala Gutta and Ashwini Ponnappa had an uphill task in their opening fixture of Group A as they had to face the World No. 1 Japanese pair of Ayaka Takahashi and Misaki Matsutomo.
The Japanese were quick to assert their supremacy and the result was a 21-15, 21-10 victory for them.
Jwala and Ashwini particularly struggled with the slow and humid conditions as the formidable Japanese led 11-8 at the mid-game interval and wrapped up the opening game soon after that. The second game provided no breather and the relentless Asian champions simply continued to dominate.
#Olympics #Badminton #Ind
— ESPN India (@ESPNIndia) August 11, 2016
Jwala Gutta and Ashwini Ponnappa have lost their first match 15-21, 10-21 in the group stage.
With a strong defense being the backbone of their game, Matsutomo and Takahashi slammed shut the match in 36 minutes. Next up for Gutta and Ponnappa: World No. 11 pair of Eefje Muskens and Selena Piek of the Netherlands on Friday.
Fortunes were no different for the Indian men’s doubles team of Manu Attri and Sumeeth Reddy, who too started their Group D challenge with an 18-21, 13-21 loss to the World No. 2 combine of Mohammad Ahsan and Hendra Setiawan of Indonesia.
Ahsan and Setiawan had conquered two of the biggest events in the last one year – the World Championships and the Dubai World Superseries Finals. Naturally, they were high on confidence when they arrived at Rio.
Nevertheless, India’s Attri and Reddy did a commendable job in the opening game and prevented the heavy favourites from running away with the match.
It was the second game where the second-ranked pair came alive and the Indians hardly had a chance thereafter. With their attack and defense working perfectly, they surged to take the match in 32 minutes.
Next up for Attri and Reddy: World No. 5 pair of Chai Biao and Hong Wei of China on Friday.
