Badminton: Jwala-Ashwini lose group opener

Rio de Janeiro, Aug 11 (IANS) India's women badminton pair of Jwala Gutta and Ashwini Ponnapa lost their opening Group A match against the top seeds Ayaka Takahashi and Misaki Matsutomo of Japan in straight games 15-21, 10-21 here on Thursday.

With a neck-to-neck competition in the early stages of the first game, the Indian pair started giving away some loose points, losing the first game 15-21 in 19 minutes.

In the second game, the world No.1 pair of Takahashi and Matsutomo completely dominated the court with attacking play, leading 15-7 and finally thrashing the Indians 21-10 in 17 minutes.

Jwala and Ashwini will be playing their next match on Friday against the Netherlands pair of Eefje Muskens and Selena Piek.