AGENCY
RIO DE JANEIRO: Setbacks continued to haunt India in their quest to break open the medal chest in the Olympic Games with shuttler P V Sindhu and World No. 5, Saina Nehwal being the bright spots in yet another disappointing day on Thursday.
Sindhu, a two-time world championship bronze medal winner, opened her women’s singles campaign on a winning note in Group M with a facile straight-game win in 27 minutes over unheralded Hungarian rival Laura Sarosi, ranked a lowly 64 in the world.
The ninth seed spanked her Hungarian opponent 21-8 21-9 in a Group M match that lasted for 27 minutes and is set to play against Glasgow Commonwealth Games champion Li Michelle of Canada on 14 August to complete the preliminary group engagements.
World No. 5, Saina Nehwal, won her match against local girl- Lohaynny Vicente. She defeated the Brazilian in straight sets- 21-17, 21-17. Saina will next play against Marija Ulitina of Ukraine on Sunday.
