Rio Olympics: Jwala Gutta, Ashwini Ponappa bow out of the Games

The chances of Indian shuttlers Jwala Gutta and Ashwini Ponappa making the quarterfinals cut for the women's doubles event in Rio Olympics suffered a critical blow after they lost their second consecutive game in the Group A clash on 12 August.

The Indian pair lost 16-21, 21-16, 17-21 to Eefje Muskens and Selena Piek of the Netherlands.

After losing the first set, the Olympic India debutants produced a much better performance in the second game before faltering significantly in the tie-breaker against the Dutch pair.

The Netherlands shuttlers took almost an hour to subdue the Indian pair of Gutta and Ponappa at Riocentro - Pavilion.

Earlier, Gutta and Ponappa kicked off their campaign on a sour note as they suffered a crucshing 15-21, 10-21 defeat against Japan's Misaki Matsutomo and Ayaka Takahashi.

In the men's doubles event, Manu Attri and B Sumeeth Reddy will aim to bounce back afater their first round defeat when they take on Chinese duo of Chai Biao and hong Wei in their second Group D clash later today.