Paris, France: Indian boxer Preeti Pawar defeated Vietnam’s Vo Thi Kim Anh in women’s 54kg category first round bout to enter the pre-quarterfinals at the Paris Olympics here on Saturday.
Asian Games bronze medallist Preeti, competing in her debut Olympic Games, opened the proceedings for India and she won 5-0 on points.
The 20-year-old from Haryana was unimpressive in the first round as her Vietnamese opponent dictated the proceedings. But the Indian made amends in the next two rounds, attacking and landing clear blows on her opponent.
Preeti will face second seed and world championships silver-medallist Marcela Yeni Arias of Colombia in the round of 16 clash on Tuesday.
India in badminton on Day 1
The women’s doubles pair of Ashwini Ponnappa and Tanisha Crasto, however, lost to South Koreans Kim So Yeong and Kong Hee Yong 18-21 10-21 in a 44-minute Group C league match.
Medal contenders Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty signalled their intention with an easy straight-game victory in their opening group stage men’s doubles match after singles ace Lakshya Sen got his maiden Olympic campaign underway on a winning note here on Saturday.
The third-seeded men’s doubles duo of Satwik-Chirag, the reigning Asian Games champions, notched up a 21-17 21-14 win against the French pair of Lucas Corvee and Ronan Labar in a Group C contest while Sen beat Tokyo edition semifinalist Kevin Cordon of Guatemala 21-8 22-20 in a Group C match of the men’s singles.
Satwik and Chirag will face Mark Lamsfuss and Marvin Seidel of Germany in their second match on Monday.
The Indian contingent ended their Day 1 at the Paris Olympics with both highs and lows as boxer Preeti Pawar defeated Vietnam’s Vo Thi Kim Anh in women’s 54kg category first round bout while the women’s doubles pair of Ashwini and Tanisha went down against South Korea. Other Sports Sports News: Latest Cricket News, Cricket Live Score, Sports Breaking News from Sports Today
