Saina kicks-off Olympics campaign on rousing note

India's ace shuttler Saina Nehwal got off to a rousing start at the Olympics. She had things her way against Switzerland's Sabrina Jaquet in the women's singles group stage match in London on Sunday.

The world No 5 needed just 22 minutes to get past the 65-ranked Swiss, winning 21-9, 21-4, at the Wembley arena.

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Sabrina, who qualified for the Games by reaching the quarter-finals of the 2012 European Championships in Karlskrona, Sweden, hardly stretched the more experienced 22-year-old Indian ace.

Having come into the Games' competition after winning the Thailand Grand Prix Gold and Indonesian Super Series Premium last month, Saina displayed clock-like precision while winning the first game, in which she was always ahead by 12 points, in 12 minutes.

The Hyderabad girl had an easier time in the second, wrapping the game in ten minutes.

Saina, who had made it to the last eight stage on her Olympic debut at the Beijing Games four years ago, will take on Lianne Tan of Belgium in her second Group E match on Monday.

Earlier, India's mixed doubles pair of Jwala Gutta and V Diju suffered yet another straight-games defeat.

They were beaten by 2009 World Championships winners Thomas Laybourn and Kamilla Rytter Juhl of Denmark, seeded eighth.

The 13th ranked Indian pair lost 12-21, 16-21, in 30 minutes.

Jwala-Diju take on the Korean pair of Yong Dae Lee and Jung Eun Ha in their last group match on Tuesday.

Image: Saina Nehwal during her match against Switzerland's Sabrina Jaquet at the women's singles badminton competition on Sunday.

Photograph: Saurabh Das/AP