Every point of Vicente was celebrated like a victory. There were times when when world No. 5 looked perturbed by the noise in the first game that forced her committing several unforced errors to let her opponent come back into the game after taking an early lead.
It was packed stadium to cheer their local hope Vicente Lohaynny. More than her world No. 71 opponent, India's Saina Nehwal was troubled by the loud noise and faster speed of this side court.
Every point of Vicente was celebrated like a victory. There were times when when world No. 5 looked perturbed by the noise in the first game that forced her committing several unforced errors to let her opponent come back into the game after taking an early lead.
Though, the result was a straight victory for the Indian, 21-17, 21-17, the Indian did go through some nervous moments here at the Riocentro on Thursday.
In the opening game Saina raced to a 6-2 lead, only to allow her Brazilian opponent come back to level it 6-6. There were many swings in the game there on, but Saina somehow managed to keep a slender lead 11-10 till the first mini break.
The break gave Saina a chance to regroup and change her strategy of playing an attacking game. She started playing longer rallies and continued to target the Brazilian's backhand. At 17-all, the Indian clinched four straight points to quell the challenge in 20-minute battle.
The second game saw Indian landing many more smashes in the middle. Saina looked much in control than the first game and took 11-5 early lead. Lohaynny, too, tried her best to make a comeback with some good net display. But Saina was in no mood to further the game before shutting the game at 17 again.
She will now play Marija Ulitina of Ukraine on Sunday.
"It was not just because of the local support to my opponent but she really played very well. She was picking up everything and that made my task difficult and I had to change my strategy during the game," said Saina after her win.
"At this highest level, the pressure is going to be there to perform. Moreover, my group is also a difficult one. I just need to take one game at a time in a hope to do well," said Saina
Sindhu, too, advances
Earlier, other Indian women shutter PV Sindhu didn't take much time before crushing her Hungarian opponent Laura Sarosi 21-8, 21-9 in her Olympic debut match.
Sindhu dominated right through the match and did not allow her opponent find any foothold in the match. Sarosi struggled to find answers to Sindhu's smashes and cross court drop shots and quietly surrendered to the superior and current world No. 12 ranked opponent.
After an one-sided first game, Sarosi showed some grit in the second to keep Sindhu on her toes. But the Indian was just too good for her opponent.
Double trouble
Sindhu's win came after two consecutive setbacks for India in the doubles. The women's doubles pair of Ashwini Ponnappa and Jwala Gutta lost their opening match to the top Japanese seeds Ayaka Takahashi and Misaki Matsutomo in straight games 15-21, 10-21.
The Indian due still has a chance to make amends to their campaign when they will take on Dutch pair of Eefje Muskens and Selena Piek in the next group game on Friday.
It was only towards the beginning of the first game that Indians showed some resilience, matching the much superior Japanese pair neck to neck. After losing the first game in 19 minutes, the pair of Takahashi and Matsutomo dominated the court and Indians had no answer to their attacking skills and surrendered the second game in 17 minutes.
In the men's section, world No. 21 Indian pair of Manu Attri and B Sumeeth Reddy were tamed by second seeded pair of Mohammad Ahsan and Hendra Setiawan of Indonesia in straight games 18-21, 13-21.
The Indonesian pair, though, dominated the proceedings from the word go but did falter in the first game when they allowed Indians to take 14-13 lead for a moment. The former world No. 1 pair then used their experience to finish off the challenge to take the first game in 18 minutes.
The second game was even shorter, 14 minutes, and saw Indians struggling to keep the pace with their superior opponents. Manu and Sumeeth will be playing their next match on Friday against the Chinese pairing of Chai Biao and Hong Wei.
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