RIO DE JANEIRO, Aug 11: Two-time World Championship bronze medallist PV Sindhu was the only bright spot on an otherwise dismal day for Indian shuttlers at the Rio Olympics here today.
Ninth seed Sindhu spanked Laura Sarosi of Hungary in the women�s singles competition 21-8, 21-9 in a Group M match that lasted for 27 minutes. She will play against Glasgow Commonwealth Games champion Li Michelle of Canada on August 14 to complete the preliminary group engagements.
Sindhu didn�t break any sweat against her World No. 64 rival as she took 13 and 14 minutes to wrap up the first and second games.
Earlier, the Indian combination of Jwala Gutta and Ashwini Ponnappa was off to a disappointing start in the women�s doubles event, losing 15-21, 10-21 to the World No. 1 Japanese pair of Ayaka Takahashi and Misaki Matsumoto in a match which lasted 36 minutes in their Group A opener. The Indians will next be up against the World No. 11 Dutch pair of Eefje Muskens and Selena Piek in their second group clash tomorrow.
In the men�s doubles competition, Manu Attri and B Sumeeth Reddy lost 18-21, 13-21 to World No. 2 Indonesian duo of Mohammad Ahsan and Hendra Setiawan. � PTI