India’s badminton squad began their Olympic campaign on Thursday with doubles pair Jwala Gutta and Ashwini Ponnappa squaring off against World No 1 players from Japan, Matsutomo Misaki and Takahashi Ayaka. However, the Indian pair lost to the Japanese players in straight sets.

The Japanese duo dominated the match as Gutta and Ponnappa found it hard to keep up with their dynamic style of playing. They lost the first game 21-15 and 21-10 in the second set.