BY PAUL A REID

Observer writer

LONDON, England — Kenneth Edwards’ Olympic debut might have lasted all of six minutes after he was narrowly beaten 6-4 by China’s Xiao Bo Liu in their men’s over 80kilo category of taekwondo at the ExCel Arena yesterday, but he was not disgraced and left the venue with his head held high.

Even Mike Fennell, president of the Jamaica Olympics Association (JOA), had high praises for the 27-year-old athlete, describing his performance as “outstanding he has represented the country well”.

Despite the loss, Edwards had stood a chance to fight for the bronze medal, if the Chinese had gone on to make it to the final.

Liu, however, was beaten 6-5 by Italy’s Carlo Molfetta in the next round, ending the Jamaica’s chances for good.

Edwards said he hoped he had opened the doors for other martial artists to represent Jamaica at this level, but he has not closed the door on his own career. “I just have to keep developing in the sport, hopefully with some proper funding and little more support my game will be lifted, travel some more and gain more exposure.”

Yesterday, Edwards, who switched from the more punch oriented ITF style of taekwondo to the more kick oriented WTF style that is used in the Olympics, put on a show that had the arena chanting “Jamaica, Jamaica, Jamaica,” with the few Jamaican flags in the crowd flying high as he took the fight to the more experienced and much taller Chinese fighter.

Edwards, who later said he was boosted by the crowds cheering, said despite being the aggressor with several flying kicks, the giant Chinese was cautious, scoring single points and backing off out of reach.

The Jamaican scored the most significant blow of the contest, a shot to the head of his opponent in the second round that accounted for three big points bringing him back in the competition.

Despite trailing 0-4 after the first round and 0-5 early in the second, Edwards said he did not panic. “No I did not change my game plan, I am way more experienced now, more composed; that would have affected me a year ago, I normally would charge in but it showed a maturity in my game.”

Edwards said the Chinese fighter’s height advantage gave him the edge. “He would commit more because of his longer reach, so the head shot would have been vital to counter, he was very cautious, he kept running and holding and that threw the game plan off a little bit.”

He said, however, the game plan drawn up by coach Alvin Bernard factored in the disparity. “We planned for the height and that’s what got the head shot in significantly, if he wasn’t clinching and holding so much our inside work would have been more effective, he is a very strong fighter and its hard to get a 200lb man off you… We tried to go body, body, body then head, but the head shot was a far reach.”

He described his first Olympic experience as “fantastic, absolutely great…for Jamaica to come here and showed what we are made of against the Asian champ and number four in the world, was great”. He added: “The crowd support was tremendous and it really boosted me a lot and I felt comfortable in there in front of millions of people.”

Xiao Bo Liu (left) of China tries to evade a challenge from Jamaica’s Kenneth Edwards during them taekwondo bout yesterday.

(Photos: Bryan ummings)

Kenneth Edwards (left) about to attack his Chinese opponent during yesterday’s bout.