Taekwondo player Bianca Walkden was left wondering what could have been as she exited the women’s taekwondo +67kg at the quarter-final stage at the European Games
Walkden arrived in Baku full of confidence after being crowned world champion last month, and she looked to have carried that form over as she beat Furkan Aydin of Turkey 9-6 in her opening match.
However, in her quarter-final Ukrainian Maryna Konieva proved too strong as Walkden lost 14-13.
Walkden found herself trailing 9-3 heading into the final round, but despite giving it her all the Brit couldn’t find a way to advance to the final four.
“Obviously I’m really disappointed,” he said. “I was definitely getting caught too many times. I thought I was covering my body but I wasn’t and she was scoring really easily.
“She got a point from everything I tried, I did do well getting back into it but I’m devastated.
“The first round wasn’t the best, I came down and made it hard for myself every time. I did well to come back but I just didn’t do enough, but I shouldn’t have even been down that much after one round it was silly. So I have to go back to the gym and work again.
“I have to lose at some point but I really wanted to win and I knew I should have done better and I shouldn’t be losing by getting caught like that.”
There was also disappointment for teammate Mahama Cho as he fell at the first hurdle of the men’s +80kg to Greek Konstantinos Gkoltsios.
“At the moment we have to adjust and anything that needs adding to my game needs to happen now before the grand prix season starts,” Cho said.
“It's not all over yet, there is still work to do but I am definitely going to head home and think about what is going on and see what needs changing.
“I felt good going into it but I think as soon as I went a few points behind I was confused as to what I needed to do to come back.
“It shows with the previous performances that it's a pattern of what's been going on in the last few months and we need to address that.”
© Sportsbeat 2015