Mixed doubles pair of Jwala Gutta and V Diju lost their third consecutive group match to be ousted from Olympic badminton competitions here Tuesday.
Jwala-Diju lost their third and final group match 15-21, 15-21 in 27 minutes against World No.9 pair of Ha Jung Eun and Lee Yong Dae of South Korea to end fourth and last in Group D. The win came as a consolation for the South Koreans who are also out of the tournament.
The Indians were no match for the South Korean opponents. The east Asians took an early lead of 5-12 in five minutes at the start of the first game.
The Indians were no match for the South Korean opponents. Reuters
Ha-Lee raced to 9-20 but were halted by the Indian pair who then took six consecutive points to bring back some hope. But an error from Jwala saw them lose the first game in eleven minutes.
The World No.13 pair improved their performance in the second game and led a neck-to-neck fight till 12-12. However, Ha-Lee upped their game and raced away to game point 15-20 and clinched the game in 13 minutes.
This was Jwala-Diju’s second loss out of three encounters against their opponents.
Jwala was quite tired after her women’s doubles match which she played late Monday evening. She has her last group match later Tuesday with Ashwini Ponnappa which they need to win to qualify for the quarterfinals.
IANS
