Baku 2015 European Games

Moldovan athlete blames crowd for European Games quarter-final exit

By Daniel Lewis, Senior Reporter

Published: June 22 2015 | 10:30

Last updated: June 22 2015 | 11:55

Natalia Repesco of the Republic of Moldova admits that she was perhaps under-prepared for her quarter-final meeting with Ivana Jandric in the women's -68kg sambo event.

Republic of Moldova sambista Natalia Repesco has indicated that her women's -68kg sambo quarter-final defeat against Ivana Jandric was down to a lack of composure.

The 22-year-old fell to a 4-0 loss against Serbia's Jandric at the Heyder Aliyev Arena on Monday morning to spell the end of her Baku 2015 campaign.

Repesco claims that she "lost focus" due to the noise created around her by spectators, which she failed to truly deal with.

"It was not on a high level," the young athlete told reporters. "Maybe she was better prepared than I was. I was not doing my best and did not attack her.

"Maybe she will be able to carry me to the fifth place. My leg injury also played its role and I think I lost focus because of the crowd."

Repesco, who finished fifth at last year's European Championships, will now face Olga Zakhartsova of Russian Federation in one of the bronze-medal matches.