CHLOE MAGEE WAS beaten in a three-game thriller by 16th seed Pi Hongyan this afternoon, ending Ireland’s involvement in the Olympic badminton.
After Scott Evans’ defeat against world number one Lin Dan yesterday, Magee knew that it was win or bust against her French opponent if she was to keep Irish hopes alive.
Riding the momentum of Sunday’s opening win against Hadia Hosny, the Raphoe native got off to a brilliant start in Wembley Arena and took a huge step towards the last 16 of the women’s draw with a 21-16 win in the opening game.
Magee looked to press home her advantage as Pi made uncharacteristic errors early on in a tight second game. She never led by more than two points though and Pi rallied to force a decider, 21-18.
It was Pi, the world number 25 and a quarter-finalist in Beijing four years ago, who showed her class in that final game and served out the first of six match points for a 21-14 win.
“It’s tough out there,” Magee told RTÉ Sport afterwards. “There were some easy mistakes out there in the third game that I just couldn’t afford to make.”
“It’s just very silly but that’s the way it goes.”
She added: “I don’t think I played badly, I was just inconsistent at big times. I can’t give her any easy points, I knew that and I tried to force it.
“I had to go for it. If I was going to beat her I had to go for it and I did that today so sometimes it just doesn’t go your way.”
Pi now advances to Yip Pui Yin of Hong Kong in the last 16.
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