Heart-breaking defeat for Woolley in Tokyo

JACK Woolley’s pursuit of gold in Tokyo came to an early and heart-breaking end after he suffered a dramatic 22-19 point defeat at the hands of Argentina’s Lucas Guzmán in the last 16 of the Men’s -58kg Taekwondo event this morning.

The Tallaght man, who was making history by becoming Ireland’s very first Olympic representative in his sport, looked to be on course to clinch further passage to the quarter finals after producing a late kick to the head that edged him a point in front with 12 seconds remaining.

And that lead might have been extended had the challenge by his coach Robert Taaffe, who contended the South Dublin competitor had actually landed a spinning kick worth five points, been upheld.

Instead that challenge was dismissed by the video referee and Woolley’s advantage remained at just a solitary score with just seven seconds to go, but enough time for Guzmán to produce two kicks to the trunk to snatch victory.

It was devastating end to a thrilling contest for the South Dublin Taekwondo competitor who served up a superb kick to the head that had propelled him 4-1 in front by the closing minute of the first round.

Yet Guzmán battled back with three swift kicks to the trunk that saw the South American head into the second round with a 9-6 advantage.

Woolley reduced the gap to the narrowest of margins only to see his opponent re-establish his three point cushion with a kick to the trunk.

Still it was not long before the Tallaght man had restored parity by the midway point in the contest and a trunk kick propelled him two in front.

But Guzmán registered a punch right on the buzzer to make it a one-point match heading into the closing round during which levelled up the tie.

With the match swinging back and forth, Woolley regained a one-point lead with a splendid kick to back of his opponent’s head with Taaffe’s challenge following.

That was crucially dismissed and it was Guzmán who maintained his composure to produce two kicks to the trunk to claw this contest out of the fire, leaving Woolley devastated on the floor.

With his quest for a place in the decider having been undone early on, the Dubliner will now face an anxious wait to see if he will get the opportunity to fight for a bronze later in the day.