It promises to be a hectic yet exciting day for the badminton contingent at the 2016 Rio Olympics, with all the three Singles players in action in their second Group encounters at the Riocentro Pavillions.
The first of them to take the court will be Saina Nehwal. The 26-year-old, who played her 1st match since winning the Australian Open in June, on Saturday will be up against Ukraine’s Maria Ulitina on Sunday.
The opening match saw Saina begin slowly on both occasions and slowly elevate her game as the match progressed. The ploy was understandable since she was coming from a two-month layoff and didn’t want to utilise all of her energies, which she will surely need in the latter stages of the competition.
Another aspect that will please her is the fact that Lohaynny Vicente, her opponent on Thursday gave her a tough fight at several stages of the match and so it wasn’t as much a breeze as on thought.
Whoever wins the contest on Sunday will book their berth in the Round of 16 matches starting tomorrow and Saina will hope to win in convincing fashion to take some confidence into the bigger challenges that lie ahead of her.
Matchup: Saina Nehwal vs Maria Ulitina
Time: 5:25 P.M IST
TV Details: Star Sports network, hotstar.com and DD Sports
