2012 London Olympics: A severe blow for Jwala Gutta, Ashwini Ponnappa in group stage
India’s prime Women’s Doubles team Jwala Gutta-Ashwini Ponnappa had to face an early defeat as they failed to rise against Mizuki Fujii-Reika Kakiiwa in Group B match of London Olympics at Wembley Arena on July 28, 2012.
World Number 20 duo, which is India’s major hope for an Olympic medal, disappointed their supporters in their opening match and surrendered tamely in just two games with 18-21 and 16-21 margin.
Meanwhile, the fourth seeded Japanese couple stamped their supremacy in all areas of the game and kick-started their campaign with a splendid straight-set victory.
This group stage encounter of the mega event was their fourth meeting and the Indian team again failed to forge a productive chemistry against their nemesis.
Jwala and Ashwini struggled from very first stroke and remained at the lower end all the way to final moments of the showdown.
First sign of trouble came when they slipped down in opening rallies of the first set and allowed their challengers to gain an early advantage.
The opposing team Mizuki-Reika moved into commanding position with 5-1 and then doubled the impact by registering 8-3 total.
They did not lose this rhythm in next couple of rallies and managed to finish first half with a notable figure of 11-6.
However, later part of the game brought life back into contest as Jwala-Ashwini made swift progress and narrowed the gap with four consecutive points.
Though, they matched their rival’s skills in third quarter of the set but could not exceed them when it mattered and surrendered after reading 18-21 score on the board.
The World Number five Japanese pair maintained this tempo also in the second set of the match. They launched a brisk attack and confined their lower ranked rivals in the rear court.
In the first half, Mizuki and Reika gathered valuable points at a steady pace and piled up a mountainous figure of 7-3.
They pushed their competitors on the back-foot with an intensive campaign and bagged the first half with a respectable total of 11-7.
The Indian campaigners could not come out of this deficit and trailed behind until final result of 16-21.
This woeful defeat has brought them down to the last spot in Group B and they will be looking to win every match to cement their spot in next round of the London Games.
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