Rio Olympics: Shuttlers Attri, Reddy cruise to easy win

Rio de Janeiro, Aug 14 (IANS) Indian shuttlers Manu Attri and Sumeeth Reddy defeated Hiroyuki Endo and Kenichi Hayakawa of Japan in straight games in their final Group D match of the men's doubles competition at the Rio Olympics here.

The Indians, who had already crashed out of medal contention, fought off a spirited challenge by the Japanese duo in the opening game to win 23-21, 21-11 in just 34 minutes at the Riocentro Pavilion 4 here on Saturday.

Attri and Reddy were off to a superb start, opening up a comfortable 8-3 lead before the Japanese duo fought back to win eight of the next nine points to take a 11-9 lead at the break.

To their credit, the Indians continued to chip away at the deficit and eventually regained the lead at 20-19 before closing off the game and claim a 1-0 lead.

The second game was a completely one-sided affair as the Indians dominated proceedings with their powerful smashes and slick placements.

Attri and Reddy were enjoying a comfortable 11-5 lead at the break before claiming a well-deservrd victory to end their Olympic campaign on a positive note.