London: India’s top shuttler Saina Nehwal made short work of Switzerland’s Sabrina Jaquet with a straight-game victory to launch her singles campaign in style, but the mixed doubles duo of Jwala Gutta and V Diju were virtually out of the reckoning in the badminton event of the Olympic Games on Sunday.
Saina did not have to sweat much as she disposed of Jaquet with a comfortable 21-9, 21-4 victory in a contest which lasted 24 minutes to bring some cheer for the Indian contingent which otherwise had a rather lacklustre day.
Saina, ranked fifth in the world, completely dominated the match from the very first game and maintained the pressure right through to get past the hapless Swiss at the Wembly Arena.
The 22-year-old Indian, who came into the tournament after winning the Thailand Grand Prix Gold and Indonesian Super Series last month, took 12 minutes to wrap up the first match, before sealing the issue in her favour by winning the second game in just 10 minutes.
Such was the domination of the Indian that Sabrina was reduced to a bystander as the Indian kept lapping up her points in quick succession. The girl from Hyderabad led by a massive 12 and 17 points in the first and second game respectively.
Saina, who had reached the quarterfinals in her Olympic debut at the Beijing Games four years ago, will take on Lianne Tan of Belgium in another group E match tomorrow.
However, the mixed doubles pair of Jwala and Diju were on the brink of elimination after losing their second successive match.
The 2009 World Championships winners Thomas Laybourn and Kamilla Rytter Juhl of Denmark, seeded eighth, proved too hot to handle for the 13th ranked Indian pair as they succumbed to a 12-21, 16-21 loss in just 33 minutes.
The Indian pair looked erratic and could not match their rivals, who were in control of the match throughout.
The Danish pair initially opened up a 6-3 lead and with the Indians faltering at the nets and their shots going wayward, they extended the lead to 12-4.
The Danes moved comfortably to the match point with a smash by Thomas, who also shut the match with a quick backhand return, which the Indians had no clue.
In the second game, Thomas and Kamilla attacked from the start and surged to 5-0 and the Indians were playing catch-up after that.
The Indians 0will take on South Korea in their last group match on Tuesday.
Saina said she was initially a bit nervous.
“In the first game I was really nervous, but then I felt better, and I started to feel more in control,” she said.
“I feel it is a great crowd here and you want to play more. In Delhi I was put under a lot of pressure, but here in this atmosphere it’s lovely,” she added.
“It was my first match but I tried my strokes. I made a few mistakes and there are areas of improvement. I faltered in a few judgements but it is okay, it is my first match,” Saina said after the match.
She was confident about the next match, but admitted that Lianne is a tough competitor. (PTI)