BEIJING, Aug 21 (Bernama) - Malaysia's taekwondo challenge in the Olympics has whittled down to Che Chew Chan after Elaine Teo was beaten in the repechage of the below 57kg class Thursday where a bronze medal was at stake.
Teo's exit leaves Chew Chan as the only and final glimmer of hope left for the Malaysian contingent which has produced a silver medal from shuttler Lee Chong Wei thus far.Chew Chan is in the above 67kg contest that will be determined on Saturday, also at the Beijing Science and Technology University gymnasium.
Teo was shown the door in the first round in the morning, outscored 7-4 by former European champion Azize Tanrikulu of Turkey.Thanks to Azize who made her way into the final, the Malaysian gained a second chance, after waiting for seven hours, to fight in the repechage where two bronze medals were at stake.
Losers to the finalists from all stages make it into the repechage.But former world champion Diana Lopez of the United States, who is a head taller and with longer reach, beat Teo 3-0 in the first round of the repechage. Lopez was ousted 5-3 by Azize in the semifinals.
"I was satisfied despite losing in the bout in the morning but not in the repechage because I could not strike back at Lopez. I was waiting for her to attack me but she used the same strategy," said Teo.
"If I move in first, she will attack me easily," said the Malaysian who could not land any kicks on the American who had beaten her 5-0 in their previous meeting during the Olympic test event at the same venue.
If she had won, Teo would have made it into the bronze medal match against Italy's Veronica Calabrese.
Her second Olympics bid was a mismatch from the start.Due to a mistake in her entry form for the Asian qualifying tournament, Teo was marked for the higher class and she had to put on four more kilogrammes to go into her contest here.
"I am fighting two classes above my usual. After this, I will have to reduce weight to get back to the 51kg class," said Teo who lost in the first round of the 47kg category in Athens.
-- BERNAMA
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