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India's Palak Kohli went down against Japan's Suzuki Ayako in the opening match of the women's singles SU5 Group A match in the 2021 Paralympics. Palak lost 21-4, 21-7 to Suzuki in a match that lasted around just 19 minutes.
Both players exchanged serves early on, but the top seed got on a roll and won 7 straight points to open up an 11-2 lead. The average rally length was a maximum of 4 strokes, as Suzuki was ruthless throughout the game. It was a tough game for Palak as the Japanese opponent in no time snatched away the set 4-21.
Suzuki took a massive 8-2 lead in the second game. The second game looked like a replication of the first game as the Japanese world No. 1 was spot-on with her aggressive shots, movement and gameplay. It was 11-3 in favor of Suzuki at the mid-game interval for the ladies.
There was a slight improvement in Kohli's rallies post the break. She tried stretching the rallies long. It was 16-6 in the middle. This clearly was a one-man show. With sheer dominance, Suzuki swept the set 21-7.
Pramod and Palak mixed doubles match:
Indian duo Pramod Bhagat and Palak Kohli went down fighting against second-seeded Lucas Mazur and Faustine Noel of France in the group B opener of the mixed doubles badminton event at the 2021 Tokyo Paralympics on Wednesday.
Bhagat and Kohli, competing in the SL3-SU5 classification, went down 9-21 21-15 19-21 against the French pair in 43 minutes at the Yoyogi National Stadium, Tokyo.
It was initially difficult for the Indian pair as they were trailing 5-11 during their time out. Things didn't change much after the break as the French duo stormed through the game 9-21.
In the second game, the Indian duo did a better job as they fought back into the match and earned a slender two-point lead at 13-11. Mazur and Noel grabbed a point but the Indian pair pulled off seven straight points to reach the game points.
It came down to the decider and the French duo started well with a 13-9 lead but Bhagat and Kohli fought their way back to take a 15-14 lead in the match. the Indian duo could not capitalize on their lead and were soon overpowered by their French rivals 19-21 in a hard fought match.
Palak Kohli's next match and opponents:
Palak Kohli and Parul Parmar (SL3-SU5) will be in action in the women's doubles match against Cheng Hefang and Ma Huihui of China.
Timings: 5:30am (IST)
