Egan criticises judging in Olympic final

Irish welterweight Kenny Egan criticised the judges after being forced to settle for the silver medal at the Workers' Stadium today with an 11-7 defeat to Chinese favourite Zhang Xiaoping.

Veteran Egan dropped the canvas in frustration at the end of his contest in which he narrowly failed to reduce a first round deficit of two points despite apparently landing a number of clean shots.

Egan said: "I thought I was leading in the second round, then I had a great third round and threw two shots that went in his favour, so he was getting points for my work.

"It was a busy and tough fight for both of us, and he came out on top with the scores. Deep down in my heart I feel like I won the fight but that's sport at the end of the day."

Egan's slippery southpaw skills appeared to be better of Zhang, but the points did not reflect his clever tactics as the Chinese star, roared on by a capacity crowd, maintained his advantage heading into the final round.

Becoming increasingly desperate with his Olympic dream slipping away from him, Egan left himself more open to counters in the final round leaving the Chinese to see out the final few seconds and claim victory.

Egan added: "My first aim was to qualify for the Games but I set new targets when I got there. I feel like I've boxed out of my skin in the final and on the night he's got the decision.

"He's the Olympic champion and I'm second best, which is heart-breaking. With regards to my future, I haven't signed anything yet or even talked about my future. My future is going home to my family and friends."