Grainne Walsh's Olympics comes to an abrupt end

END GAME: Anna Luca Hamori of Hungary celebrates at the final bell. Pic: ©INPHO/Ryan Byrne

Grainne Walsh faced bitter disappointment in her opening fight in the women’s 66kg category in Paris today, the 28-year-old’s Olympics coming to an abrupt end after she lost 4-1 to Anna Luca Hamori of Hungary.

“The bottom line of all of this is just frustration,” said the Tullamore boxer. “She just smothered me from early on and was leaning all over me. I'm not blaming her for it. She did what she had to do to win the fight.”

In a ragged contest, Walsh’s rival drew her into grappling contests on several occasions, which left her skills often stifled, her frustration rising.

“I just didn't feel like I'd get any flow,” said Walsh. “It's hard when you finish a fight and you didn't enjoy it. I was trying to be as present and in the moment as I could and lap up everything and I didn't feel like the moment got to me, although it might have looked like that.

"My inside game is probably one of my best attributes but was just tying me up and I was just getting annoyed. I tried to pull my hands free as much as I could.”

Walsh had the better of the early exchanges but Hamori started to break through Walsh’s guard soon after, landing several times to take the first round 3-2. Hamori faced a one-point deduction midway through the second round due to excessive grappling, with the Hungarian taking it on the judges’ scorecards 5-0.

But the deduction left Walsh still firmly in contention heading into the final round: up on two scorecards, down on three.

However, Hamori asserted herself better in the final round, making some clean connections and forcing Walsh to soon go on the offensive, but the Offaly woman couldn’t do enough in the closing minute to convince the judges, losing the round 3-2 and the bout 4-1 overall.

She was critical of the officiating afterwards, suggesting her opponent should have received more warnings.

“It actually encouraged her to continue doing it and I was getting continuously frustrated but I tried not to let my emotions get the better of me,” she said.

“It’s just very annoying when you're trusting in someone to let a fight go free-flowing and it doesn't turn out that way.

“I’m just disappointed, the Olympics comes around once every four years and it's a shame. I can beat that girl 10 times out of 10 but it just didn't happen today.”