Ireland's Rachael Darragh was well beaten by classy Spaniard Carolina Marin in her second and final group match, as her hopes of progression to the badminton knockout stages came to an end.
Darragh lost 2-1 to Switzerland’s Jenjira Stadelmann in her Group L opener, having had match point at one stage. Stadelmann hung tough to edge that game and then take the deciding third.
Small margins, big ramifications. It meant the Irishwoman had to beat Spanish No 4 seed Marin today in order to keep her hopes of progression alive.
Marin won gold at the 2016 Rio Games and is a three-time world champion. She has serious pedigree and that was evident from the off as she raced out of the traps, leading 11-4 at the midway point of the first game.
Darragh, who looked a little nervy, struggled to find her usual rhythm. Unforced errors were emphatically punished by Marin, who wrapped up the first game quickly, 21-5.
Darragh - a niece of three-time Olympian Chloe Magee - just couldn’t build any real momentum and looked disheartened as Marin maintained control of the contest.
A good overhead smash raised her spirits, but Marin’s touch, athleticism and experience were a cut above. She led 11-3 at the interval and never looked back.
Marin raced away to win the second game 21-5 and march in to the last 16.
Speaking after the match, Darragh said she knew it would have been a difficult task to overcome Marin.
"I knew before I went on court that she would be a tough opponent, I just wanted to give my best performance," she said.
"I really struggled with the conditions of the hall, it was a little bit different on court three to court one, but she was really fast, really sharp.
"It was a whole level up from yesterday and I struggled a lot against her today," Darragh added.
Darragh's Olympics now comes to an end, however, she is proud of her displays, particularly yesterday's narrow loss to Stadelmann.
She said: "I knew before coming here, no one is going to have an easy group at the Olympic Games - it's the top level of sport - but I knew I had a tough task with an Olympic champion and a European bronze medallist.
"I'm proud of the performance yesterday in particular, I feel I could have given a little bit more today but again, Carolina played amazing and it’s an honour to play an Olympic champion at the Olympic Games."
"I’ve played an Olympic Games now and I can use that going forward, having played in a big arena. It’s a pressure environment and everyone wants to perform well here so I can use that for the future for sure," she added.
