TASMANIAN boxer Jackson Woods said elimination in his first fight at the Commonwealth Games was reminiscent of his disappointment at the London Olympics.
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‘‘I’m upset and really disappointed right now after the amount of training I’ve done for this tournament and it’s just gone like that,’’ Woods said after his 87-84 points loss to reigning Commonwealth champion Sean McGoldrick in the 56-kilogram bantamweight division.
‘‘It’s really disappointing. I trained so had for this and on a better day I could beat that guy – it’s the same as the Olympics.
‘‘I just crumble in big tournaments, I don’t know why. He’s not a better boxer than me.
‘‘I thought the Olympics was going to help me with this tournament and I really felt like I could do good here having the Olympics experience behind me.
‘‘I was going to learn from it, I tried and it just didn’t happen.’’
After three very tight rounds at the Scottish Exhibition and Conference Centre in Glasgow, there was little to choose between the fighters.
In a split decision, the Brazilian judge awarded the fight 29-28 to Jackson but the judges from Kazakhstan and Belarus scored it 30-27 and 29-28 respectively in favour of the 22-year-old from Newport in Wales.
‘‘I knew it could have gone either way, it was such a close fight it could have come down to judges’ preference,’’ said Woods, a five-time Australian champion and 2011 Youth Commonwealth Games silver medallist.
‘‘I didn’t go out there and do what I wanted to do and crumbled again and that’s why I lost,’’ he said.
‘‘For the rest of the Games I’ll still be here to cheer the boys on because Australia is doing well. We’ve only got two losses so far so I’ll be here for the team.‘‘’
Meanwhile, Huw Peacock narrowly missed qualification for the hammer throw final.
Competing in his first Commonwealth Games at Hampden Park, the 22-year-old recorded two fouls in his three throws.
Peacock’s middle throw of 63.95 metres, well short of his 67.22m personal best, placed him 14th, but only 12 qualified for Tuesday’s final.
‘‘Unfortunately I wasn’t able to perform at my best today,’’ Peacock said. ‘‘Either way it was a great experience being out there in front of 40,000 screaming Scots.
‘‘I’m sure this experience will help me to become a better competitor in the future and I’m grateful to have been able to represent Australia at senior level for the first time.’’