TAEKWONDO: Safwan Khalil has narrowly missed a bronze medal in the under 58 kilogram division of the taekwondo competition at the ExCel Arena.

Khalil, who came through the repechage was defeated 3-1 by Russian no.7 seed Alexey Denisenko in the bronze medal bout.

“It was really frustrating, he was very tall and a really hard opponent to fight,” Khalil said.

“ I wanted gold here but I didn’t have a second chance. It’s such a long day but I am lucky Ali (his brother and coach Ali Khalil) and Carmen (his fiancée and under-67kg fighter Carmen Marton) were here to keep me focused and I was able to come back.”

Earlier, Khalil suffered a narrow defeat to former world champion Joel Gonzalez Bonilla.

He was locked at one-all with the Spaniard heading into the final round but was defeated 5 points to 3 despite a brave showing.

Khalil had won his first match to make it through to the quarter-final.

He posted a strong 9-4 victory over Mexican Diego Garcia de Leo.

Khalil trailed 2-0 after the first round but finished strongly over the concluding stages of the bout.

The bout turned in the final round when Ali Khalil challenged a call. Using video technology, the jury overturned the original decision and the Mexican was docked three points.

Safwan said it was a crucial call.

“He did well, Ali, with that call. We talked about our strategy to use challenges if we need to and he came up with the right decision," Khalil said.

“I’m just so relieved to get through. The first fight is always the toughest."

Damian Kelly at ExCel Arena

Olympics.com.au