Jwala Gutta and Ashwini Ponnappa, the 2014 Commonwealth Games silver medallists, failed to start their Rio campaign on a high as they lost to Japan’s Misaki Mastsutomo and Ayaka Takahashi in their opening match.
The pair lost the match in two straight sets 21-15, 21-10.
The world no 1 pair of Mastsutomo and Takahashi made quick work of Indian pair as they won the game in 36 minutes.
Jwala and Ponnappa opened up a 4-1 lead but ended up blowing it away in no time after the Japanese pair put across some deep returns which the Indians failed to judge. The Japanese pair, in contrast, was quick on their feet and returned everything that the Indians threw at them.
Jwala and Ponnappa, who were struggling to coordinate their moves, trailed 8-11 at the first lemon break and could not bridge the gap even once. The Japanese pair produced a couple of brilliant winners — a backhand flick down the line by Matsumoto being particularly impressive — to wrap up the opening game in 19 minutes without breaking much of a sweat.
The second game followed a similar script with Takahashi and Matsumoto racing to a 6-3 lead. The top seeds capitalised on Jwala and Ashwini’s apparent lack of rhythm and managed to send down winners in open gaps.
The pair will be playing their next match on Friday against the Netherlands pair of Eefje Muskens and Selena Piek.
(With inputs from IANS and PTI.)