Andy Murray and Joe Salisbury through in men's doubles but Heather Watson knocked out; shooter Seonaid McIntosh fails to make final with first gold medal of Tokyo 2020 Games going to China; rowers Helen Glover and Polly Swann make shaky start but safely through to semi-final
Sunday 25 July 2021 08:58, UK
Andy Murray and Joe Salisbury made a brilliant start to their doubles campaign with victory over second seeds Pierre-Hugues Herbert and Nicolas Mahut.
It looked a tough draw for the scratch pairing against the French Open champions but Murray and Salisbury gelled superbly and dominated the match as it wore on.
A break of the Herbert serve at 4-3 in the opening set was crucial and the British pair ran out 6-3 6-2 winners.
They will now face Germany's Kevin Krawietz and Tim Puetz in the second round on Sunday, while Murray will return to singles action when he faces Canada's Felix Auger-Aliassime in the first round.
Meanwhile, Heather Watson was knocked out in the first round of the women's singles by Anna-Lena Friedsam of Germany.
Watson, Britain's only female representative following Johanna Konta's positive coronavirus test, looked to have a decent draw against the 67th-ranked Friedsam.
But the German edged a tight first set on a tie-break and ran out a 7-6 (5) 6-3 winner.
China's Yang Qian claimed the first gold medal of the Tokyo Olympics on Saturday after prevailing in a battle of nerves with Russian Anastasiia Galashina in the women's 10-metre rifle competition.
Galashina barely made it to the final, grabbing the last of the eight qualifying slots, but was in pole position for gold until she cracked under the pressure with a last shot of 8.9, the lowest of any competitor in the final.
Yang was not immune to the pressure at the Asaka Shooting Range but her below-par final shot of 9.8 was still enough to snatch the gold with an Olympic record total of 251.8.
Switzerland's Nina Christen won the bronze, while American world number two Mary Tucker was eliminated early and finished sixth.
Britain's medal hope Seonaid McIntosh finished 12th and failed to make the cut for the final after posting a score of 627.2, 1.5 points off the last qualification spot earned by Galashina.
"I'm mostly happy with how I fought through it and while the last couple of shots weren't great, I'm pleased with how I performed," McIntosh said.
"If you'd have asked me a year ago I would have said this was a sighter for the 50m but the last year this event has got a lot better and I knew I was perfectly capable of winning a medal.
"I don't really know about next week - I need to process this first and work out what to take forward. It's a very different event and it's about keeping that fight."
Helen Glover's defence of her Olympic rowing title got off to a shaky start alongside Polly Swann as they finished third in their heat in the women's pairs.
The British duo were some way off the pace set by Australia and ROC but it was enough to ensure a place in Tuesday's semi-finals.
Rio 2016 gold medallist Glover made a shock return to the sport after originally retiring in 2016 and has now made history as the first British rower to compete at an Olympics after having children.
Meanwhile, men's fours rowers Oliver Cook, Rory Gibbs, Matthew Rossiter and Sholto Carnegie won their heat ahead of Italy and qualified for the final.
