Tona tanks

THRERSA Tona’s Olympic debut ended with a flurry of unanswered points against her in the flyweight taekwondo bout against Japan’s Erika Kasahara yesterday.
After a scoreless opening round where both women failed to impress the judges, No.8 ranked Kasahara changed tack in the second stanza, countering Tona’s shots to pile on 12 points.
Despite setting a brisk pace, Tona was unable to score in the penultimate round, thereby conceding defeat via the points gap rule.
The declaration by the judges came as a surprise to coach Andy Rutten as the scoring shot for the final point was innocuous at best.

A disappointed Tona had to accept the decision as it was clear she was ready to give everything in the final round, including going for a knock out.
Tona’s coach, Andy Rutten looked disappointed and looked around with hands open as if looking for an explanation for the stoppage, but he got none from officials.
With vocal support from fellow Team PNG members, Tona took to the mat looking confident and determined to produce a strong display to reward the arduous prepration she had undertaken before competing at the London Olympics.