Katryna Esposito (right) in action during her bout at the Paris Olympics. Photo: AFP
Katryna Esposito put on a fighting performance on her Olympic debut but still was not enough to overcome Mongolian judoka Bavuudorjiin Baasankhüü in the round of 32 at the Paris Olympics on Saturday.
Esposito was making her debut in the -48kg class at the Olympics but she looked unfazed by the daunting challenge of facing Baasankhuu, a gold medallist at the World Judo Championships in Abu Dhabi this year.
In fact, Esposito took a very aggressive approach throughout the bout and despite conceding a wazari in the opening stages she continued to try and upset her opponent.
Esposito’s attacking tactics forced Baasankhuu to commit two successive infringements, which put the Mongolian just one yellow card away from suffering a shock defeat.
However, as the minutes passed, Baasankhuu used all her experience to strike late on with a second wazari to take the contest via an ippon.
The final result hit hard Esposito who was seen leaving the tatami in tears but can still feel proud of her performance against one of the world’s leading fighters in her class.
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