Team GB judoka Colin Oates was halted in the second round of the European Games in Baku on Thursday, losing to Sergiu Oleinic of Portugal.
The 32-year-old was hoping to get through to at least the last eight of the tournament, which is also acting as judo's European Championships this year.
Sports Mole sat down with the experienced Brit afterwards to get his reaction.
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Colin, what's your assessment after that?
"Not the best day of my career. I was hoping to at least get to the quarter-finals and have another crack. There were two good fights in me that were winnable fights. The kid I have just had is in good form, but if I produced the judo I'm capable of then I should have won that fight. It was a tight fight, the same as the first one.
"Sometimes this sport can be frustrating, because one score and it's all over. He played the fight really well, he played the fight clever and made sure he nullified what I do well. It was a tactical match, but I'm disappointed - that's my initial reaction. I should be doing better than that."
How has the training and preparation been ahead of this tournament?
"It has been good. We have been to Mongolia [for training] which was a really good experience. We had wonderful hospitality out there and the training was great. I had a bit of a slow start to the year because I had a niggle in my knee, but since then I have come back and done quite well. I fought well in the Masters, so I was hoping to go a little further today. But that's the nature of the sport, you have to take these ups and downs quite a lot.
"It's not like other sports where if you can run 10 seconds, then you can run 10 seconds every time. This is a different kettle of fish. I'm not saying it's easier to be a sprinter, but if you know you can do the time, then you can do the time. In judo if you're fighting the best you are fighting but there is one mistake you're out of the match."
Did it make a difference to your mental preparation that this year's European Games is also judo's European Championships?
"Not really for me, no. In terms of this being the Europeans and the Baku Games, the points value hasn't changed. Realistically it was just like fighting in the Europeans for us and so it didn't really change much. I'm getting more used to the multi-sport environment. The big bonus of being here is that it's another experience in a multi-sport environment. Looking forward, it's probably a big benefit for us to have the European Championships here."
Where do you go from here? What's you schedule in the long term?
"We get a small break and then we're cracking on with the Russian Grand Slam. That's big points because it's a Grand Slam. I want a good result out there because that would almost see me qualified for Rio. Looking beyond that it's the World Championships. That's a big focus for me. It's going to be a big couple of months for me."
Jack Prescott
