Team GB judoka Sarah Adlington was beaten in her first fight at the European Games on Saturday, losing to Svitlana Iaromka of Ukraine in the +78kg category.
The Commonwealth Games champion looked good early on before Iaromka, who recently won the Baku Grand Prix, came through to win.
Judo at this year's European Games is acting as the sport's European Championships, while ranking points for the Rio Olympics are also on offer.
Sports Mole sat down with Adlington afterwards to get her take on how she did out on the mat.
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Hi Sarah. Would it be fair to say that you are pretty disappointed by how it panned out today?
"I'm gutted. I probably fought the perfect fight until the end. It's the second time that's happened fighting that girl."
Was that a fairly tough draw for you?
"I've lost to her the last two times that I've fought her. She's also ranked quite highly in the world at the moment, I think."
How far were you hoping to go in the competition?
"When I set my goals out at the beginning of the year one of them was to get a medal here. I [suffered a serious knee injury] three months ago but I was still hoping to get a medal."
Did you feel that expectations were higher because this is also the European Championships?
"No, not really. It's another competition. I treat them the same: I want to win, get a medal."
Jack Prescott
