BADMINTON HOPEFUL CHLOE MAGEE moved to within touching distance of a place in the last 16 with a winning start in the women’s singles tonight.
Ranked 44th in the world, Magee opened her Olympic campaign with a straight sets victory against Hadia Hosny of Egypt.
After an evenly matched opening exchange the Raphoe native outlasted Hosny, ranked 113th, to take the first set 21-17.
Once ahead, Magee never looked back in the second set and raced into a commanding lead before closing out a 21-6 win.
The result sets up a potential winner-take-all showdown against group favourite Hongyan Pi of France on Tuesday afternoon.
Seeded 16th and ranked 25th in the world, Pi will be a firm favourite to prevail when she meets Hosny in Group I’s second match tomorrow.
With only one of the three set to progress to the last 16, Magee may need a minor upset on Tuesday if she is to extend her campaign into the latter stages of next week.