Egelstaff goes down fighting

Susan Egelstaff's Olympic challenge came to an end at Wembley Arena this afternoon, but she had no regrets after putting in two strong performances in her group campaign.

The 29-year-old from Glasgow, who defeated Maja Tvrdy of Slovenia in straight games in her opening contest, shocked 12th seed Sayaka Sato by taking the first game of their group decider 21-18.

But the Japanese 12th seed hit back from 4-3 down in the second to level the contest despite Egelstaff pulling back from 16-10 down to trail by just a point at 16-15. Crucially, Egelstaff then left a shot which landed on the line, and that marked the start of a five point run for Sato to take the second game 21-16.

In the decider Egelstaff led 3-1 before Sato applied the pressure and started to edge clear, finally running out a 21-12 winner.

Egelstaff said: "Obviously I was disappointed to lose but I feel I gave it everything. I couldn't have done anything more. I have played really well and I am pleased about that.

"Obviously on paper she was expected to beat me but it was nice for me to put up such a good fight.

"But if I was going to win, I think I knew I was going to have to win it in two.

"Even in the second and third games I don't think I played badly. She was just obviously good enough to change her game.

"I can go away knowing I played as well as I could. It's been great and it's nice to have played well. It makes the whole experience that much better

"But I will have a little break now because obviously the whole qualifying period was pretty stressful. Now I can enjoy the second week and the whole Olympic experience.

"It was so good to get here....Now I will move back into the village, see a few events and have a few ''MaccyDs'."

Images by Alan Spink Action Photography