Para taekwondo jin Allain Ganapin wasted a huge lead and succumbed to Azerbaijan’s Abulfaz Abuzarli, 9-12, in the round of 16 of the Men’s K44 -80kg event of the 2024 Paris Paralympics at the Grand Palais Saturday, Aug. 31.
Ganapin, 26, looked headed to a big win after leading as many as 9-4 with a minute and 43 seconds left but then lost his steam as the No. 5 seed Abuzarli charged back with eight straight connected kicks to snatch the win.
The two-time Olympian tried to flip the script, but failed to land in his final assault.
With his victory, the Azerbaijani ace will battle Mexico’s Luis Mario Najera in the quarterfinals.
Before leaving the Paris doors along with para archer Agustina Bantiloc, Ganapin eased past Refugee bet Hadi Hassanzada, 22-13, in the Round of 32.
That marked his first win in the quadrennial showpiece after his disrupted debut in the Tokyo edition three years ago after he tested positive to COVID-19.
Meanwhile, swimmer Ernie Gawilan had some jitters to shake off as he finished dead last in the Men’s 200m IM-SM7 heats at Paris La Defense Arena.
Gawilan, who is vying on his third consecutive Olympic stint, clocked 2 minutes and 56.39 seconds to settle for sixth place. Ukraine’s Andrii Trusov (2:35.80) topped the class while Argentina’s Inaki Basiloff (2:37.99) and Ukrainian Yevhenni Bohodaiko (2:38.47) earned the second and third places, respectively.
Gawilan will have another shot for podium in the 400m Free-S7 Heat 2 Monday, Sept. 2.
