Thursday 11 August 2016 07:09, UK
Qais Ashfaq became the latest Team GB boxing casualty when he was eliminated from the Olympics by Thai soldier Chatchai Butdee.
Hopes were high the 23-year-old Leeds bantamweight could provide some respite from a disappointing run of team results in Rio but he was felled in the second round and eventually outpointed on all three scorecards.
Ashfaq, who won bronze at the 2015 European Games, found his fellow southpaw awkward from the off and although he landed the first jab, he soon felt Butdee's opening combination.
A pair of short rights from the 30-year-old followed and although Ashfaq responded with a one-two of his own, his failure to pick up the opener was compounded by a knockdown in the second.
Ashfaq had come out determined to force exchanges in a bid to level the score and landed a decent left counter but a pair of overhand lefts from Butdee served as a warning Ashfaq failed to heed, for he was soon sitting on his backside after being caught flush by a crisp straight left.
Butdee, ranked seventh in the world, was understandably less active in the final round but did pick his man off with several sharp counters as Ashfaq looked to produce a dramatic turnaround.
An eye-catching combination of body shots from Butdee ended up discouraging Ashfaq from dallying in range for too long and he never looked capable of producing the stoppage he required.
Ireland's Joe Ward also bowed out of the boxing tournament after losing his light-heavyweight bout with Andres Carles Mina by split decision.
The two-time European champion struggled to restrain his rugged Ecuadorian opponent and was docked a point for holding in the second and third round.
Ward was given a 28-27 verdict from one of the judges, but the other two officials awarded the victory to Mina by the same margin.
American light-welterweight Gary Russell, whose brother holds the WBC featherweight title, earlier won every round in a points victory over Haiti's Richardson Hitchins.
