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Egypt's Hedaya Wahba beats New Zealand's Robin Cheong (L) during their women's -57kg preliminary round taekwondo match
New Zealand's two taekwondo competitors have lost their first
round fights at the London Olympics, though they still have an
outside chance of fighting for a bronze.
Robin Cheong was comfortably defeated 17-6 by world No.2 Hedaya
Wahba of Egypt, while Logan Campbell lost 10-6 to the unseeded
Ukrainian Hryhorii Husarov.
Campbell and Cheong could potentially fight again on Thursday, with
a bronze medal a possibility if they keep winning, if Husarov or
Wahba make their finals.
Campbell didn't think he had much chance given that Husarov will be
taking on world champion Servet Tazegul in the
quarter-finals.
"He's definitely not going to go through against the world champ,
which sucks because I would have loved to have fought the world
champ."
Wahba's world ranking suggests Cheong has more chance of fighting
again and she said she would focus on recovery in the chance she
could re-enter the competition.
Cheong, ranked 11 in the world, made little headway with Wahba in
the first two rounds of her under 57kg class bout and was 6-1 down
after the second round ended.
Cheong pulled the margin back to 7-6 in the third round before
Wahba landed three head-kicks that sealed the victory.
"I've had two years break with injuries and surgeries so coming to
the Olympics was just a big miracle for me," she said.
Campbell, seeded eighth in the under 68kg class, took a 2-1 lead
into the final round but Husarov landed a couple of head-kicks in
the last round to win.
"The funny thing was that I was just teaching young kids in New
Zealand how to cover head shots," Campbell said.
Campbell revealed he was fighting with a shattered finger which he
injured a month ago.
"I can't actually bend it, so I couldn't punch with my left hand,
but the doc put an anaesthetic in it so I can't actually feel
it."