Icelandic competitor at the London Olympics Ragna Ingólfsdóttir lost against Jie Yao from Holland in qualifying group F in women’s solo badminton last night. The score of the first round was 21-12 in Yao’s favor but Ragna put up more of a fight in the second with Yao claiming a narrow victory, 25-23.
Ragna Ingólfsdóttir. Source: Facebook.
The game decided who would move on to the quarter finals. Both players had already beat Akvile Stapusaityte from Lithuania, the third player of the qualifying group, and only the top player continues to the next round. Ragna has thus ended her Olympic campaign, visir.is reports.
And indeed, Ragna has now finished competing for good. She announced before last night’s game that this would be her last.
In an interview with RÚV after the game, Ragna said that she was satisfied with her career. Her aim was to peak at the London Olympics and she feels that she has achieved that goal, mentioning that her game against Stapusaityte on Monday was the best of her career.
In yesterday’s game, Yao was quick to take the lead in the first round, maintaining it throughout, although Ragna managed to narrow the gap several times, the last time when the score was 11-9 for Yao.
However, in the second round, Ragna was the one to take the lead, maintaining it until Yao finally managed to overtake, leaving the score 18-17 to Yao. Both players fought hard to win the round, which was repeatedly extended.
Yao eventually won by scoring from a surf, which Ragna took to be out.
In other Olympic news, Icelandic swimmer Hrafnhildur Lúthersdóttir finished third in her qualifying group at 2:29:60 minutes in the 200-meter breaststroke this morning.
The time was more than two seconds from her best, the Icelandic record she set last spring, 2:27:11 minutes, visir.is reports.
Hrafnhildur has been battling injuries, which appears to have affected her in the swim. She was off to a good start, taking the lead in the first 100 meters but was unable to maintain it. However, Hrafnhildur is fairly content with her performance.
Click here to read more about Ragna and here to read news of the Icelandic handball team at the Olympics.
ESA
