Ace Indian shuttler Kidambi Srikanth started his Commonwealth Games 2022 campaign with a win over Pakistan`s Murad Ali in the group match.
India's fancied shuttlers didn't break a sweat on their way to completing a 3-0 sweep of Pakistan in their badminton campaign opener at the 22nd Commonwealth Games here on Friday. The duo of B Sumeeth Reddy and Machimanda Ponnappa started the proceedings with a comfortable 21-9 21-12 win over Muhammad Irfan Saeed Bhatti and Ghazala Siddique in their mixed doubles clash at the National Exhibition Centre.
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After the Pakistan pair appeared to put up a fight in the second game, Reddy finished the match with a down-the-line smash, and then, Kidambi Srikanth picked up from where his mixed doubles colleagues left, easily getting the better of Murad Ali 21-7 21-12 in the men's singles match. The gulf in class was evident as the Pakistanis struggled to match the high standards set by the Indians.
Then, it was the turn of double Olympic medallist P V Sindhu to grab a dominant win over Mahoor Shahzad in women's singles. The champion Indian shuttler won 21-7 21-6.
In the fourth match, which was the men's doubles contest, Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty got the better of Murad Ali and Muhammad Irfan Saeed Bhatti.
Unlike in the first three matches, Pakistan tried to take the fight to the Indians but soon, the duo of Rankireddy and Chirag found their bearings and emerged 21-12 21-9 winners. In the concluding women's doubles match, India's Treesa Jolly and Gayatri Gopichand crushed Mahoor Shahzad and Ghazala Siddique 21-4, 21-5 to complete the rout on a dominant note.
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Talking about Indian women's hockey match, Drag flicker Gurjit Kaur struck a brace as the Indian women`s team started its campaign in the 2002 Commonwealth Games here with a comprehensive 5-0 win against minnows Ghana in a Pool A encounter here on Friday.
Gurjit Kaur opened the scoring for India in the third minute when she slammed home a drag flick off a penalty corner to make it 1-0 for India. Forward Neha made it 2-0 with a field goal in the 28th minute; Sangita Kumari made it 3-0 in the 36th minute before Gurjit converted a penalty stroke to make it 4-0 for India. Youngster Salima Tete scored the fifth goal for India four minutes from the final hooter.
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 "Kidambi Srikanth and Indian Women's hockey team")
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