Ashwini Ponnappa and Jwala Gutta lost to the Dutch pairing of Eefje Muskens-Selena Piek 16-21, 21-16, 17-21 to suffer their second loss of the group stages. The duo had lost on Thursday to the top ranked Indonesian pairing in straight games. This will severely hurt their chances of progression into the quarterfinals. The match lasted 58 minutes and tested both teams in a cagey contest that went both ways.India’s campaign in badminton and more specifically in doubles started with losses for both the men’s and women’s pairing. Playing first, Ashwini Ponnappa and Jwala Gutta picked up the pace early but then sizzled out against the defence of their Japanese counterparts who returned everything that was thrown at them. Later Manu Attri and Sumeeth Reddy also tasted defeat in straight games despite offering good resistance in parts. But all is not lost for the pairing with it being the first of the group games and two more to be played.
The men’s doubles contest is yet to get underway.
Live Badminton Score, Rio 2016 Olympics:
1927 hrs IST: Gutta sends it long and Muskens/Piek win 21-16, 16-21, 21-17
1926 hrs IST: Net chord helps India there. Poor shot and it is smashed away. 19-17
1926 hrs IST: The Dutch getting back into things now. 19-16
1925 hrs IST: Nice low shot forces a tame response which is duly put away by Gutta. 17-16
1925 hrs IST: The winning streak for the Indian pair is broken at four. 17-15 to the Dutch pair now
1923 hrs IST: Three strong points by Gutta/Ponnappa. Good attacking play and they’ve reduced the gap to three
1922 hrs IST: Muskens/Piek have built a healthy lead in this third set now. Lead 16-11
1919 hrs IST: Muskens/Piek with 11-8 lead in the third set
1913 hrs IST: Muskens/Piek struggling with their serve a little bit. 7-7 in the third set
1902 hrs IST: Gutta/Ponnappa win the second game 21-16. Into the deciding game now
1901 hrs IST: Once again, for the third time this match at least, Ponnappa and Gutta can’t decide who goes for the shot down the center. Lead reduced to a single point. 15-14
1901 hrs IST: Gutta/Ponnappa getting some well deserved lead now on the back of nicely placed shots. 15-11
1857 hrs IST: Ponnappa/Gutta go into the break in second set at 11-8
1856 hrs IST: Great smash by Ponnappa into the corner and India lead 9-8. Gutta now climbing high to get a smash into the corner. 10-8
1854 hrs IST: The second set equally cagey between the two teams. 7-7 as Ponnappa sends smash into the net
1845 hrs IST: Gutta/Ponnappa save one of five game points but lose first game 16-21
1844 hrs IST: Once again, sending the shuttle down the middle. Game point
1844 hrs IST: This time she’s on mark with her smash. Keeps it low and on to the feet. 15-18 now
1843 hrs IST: Near miss by Ponnappa and the Dutch pair lead 18-14
1842 hrs IST: Really good quality point that. Gutta attacking from the net with smashes and drops but the Dutch offer resolute defence to force an error from Ashwini from the back of the court
1841 hrs IST: Low backhand by the Dutch pair is wide. Nicely judged by Ponnappa
1839 hrs IST: Clawing back into things ever so slightly. Good combination work by Ponnappa and Gutta. Reduce gap to four points. 15-11 now
1838 hrs IST: Muskens/Piek with a healthy 15-8 lead. Lovely strategic badminton by them
1836 hrs IST: Lovely smash between Ponnappa and Gutta and the Dutch ladies lead 11-8 at the break
1835 hrs IST: Great point and the backhand error by Ponnappa ends a 26-stroke rally. 10-8 to the Dutch pair
1832 hrs IST: Muskens/Piek regain the lead with some quick attacking shots at the net. 9-8 now in the first
1828 hrs IST: Ponnappa/Gutta in the lead now at 6-4. Neither teams able to get the early momentum
1825 hrs IST: Jwala Gutta and Ashwini Ponnappa are on court. They’re in all white today
BUILD UP
Badminton at Rio 2016 Olympics got underway on day 6 with Ashwini Ponnappa and Jwala Gutta getting things underway and crashing to a straight games defeat in their first of three Group A matches. Facing a daunting task of playing number one seeds from Japan Misaki Matsutomo, Ayaka Takahashi, the Indian pairing lost 15-21, 10-21 in just 38 minutes.
Jwala and Ashwini opened brightly to take a 4-1 lead but ended up letting that lead crash with multiple errors as Japanese pairing display brilliant defence to throw back everything that was thrown at them. Jwala and Ashwini, trailed 8-11 at the first break and never really threatened to close that gap, let alone get their own lead back.
The Japanese pairing were quick to get the advantage and stretch their lead in the second game too. It was a dominant performance overall from the Japanese pairing with a backhand flick down the line by Matsumoto at the fag end of the match being one of the points of the match.
Ponappa and Gutta will now face the 11th ranked Dutch pairing of Eefje Muskens and Selena Piek on Friday to create any hopes of making it into the next stage of the competition.
Manu Attri and B Sumeeth Reddy’s debut campaign at the Rio 2016 Olympics in men’s doubles started on a sour note after losing 18-21, 13-21 to the number two
Manu Attri and B Sumeeth Reddy’s debut campaign at the Rio 2016 Olympics in men’s doubles started on a sour note after losing 18-21, 13-21 to the number two ranked Indonesian pair of Ahsan Mohammad and Setiawan Hendra. The duo are placed in Group D with three matches played in the rond robin stages.
The duo kept things neck and neck for the most part in the first game to stand 9-11 down at the break. But then they dropped back with the Indonesian pair producing exquisite shots that the Indian pair weren’t able to return. Leading 18-14, Ahsan and Setiawan produced lovely defence to return a smash from behind the back and then won the long point with a lovely drop shot that Attri was unable to return.
The Indian pair saved three game points but were undone by a let on the serve to concede the first game.
The second game was less of a contest with the Indonesian pair good in attack and defence to first lead 11-6 and then close out the game soon enough.
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(This story has not been edited by BDC staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed from IANS.)
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