First, Jwala Gutta and Ashwini Ponnappa lost their Group A match to Japan's Misaki Matsutomo and Ayaka Takahashi 15-21, 10-21. Pertinently, India never faltered in intensity and the Olympics knockouts remain within their grasp.The news from India's other badminton events was disappointing, with both the women's and men's doubles pairs beaten in straight games. Deepika Kumari was beaten 0-6 by Chinese Taipeir's Ya-Ting Tan and Bombayla Devi 2-6 by Mexico's Alejandra Valencia.Though the men's hockey team lost to Netherlands, there was further proof that this is a squad on the ascendancy. That leaves the other two Indian pugilists, Vikas Krishan and Manoj Kumar to contest the pre-quarters of their respective categories.The last of India's archers exited the Rio Olympics within 20 minutes of each other, losing in the individual women's pre-quarters. However, the exits of former boxer Shiva Thapa and the last of India's two female archers added a pall of gloom to the mood.Thapa, a former world No 3, was beaten 0-3 by Cuba's Robeisy Ramirez in the men's bantamweight 56kg competition.

Source: Times of India August 11, 2016 15:22 UTC