Olympic fencing: Second seed Li crashes out

London - Second seed and world champion Li Na of China was bundled out of the Olympic women’s fencing competition after she lost to defending champion Britta Heidemann of Germany 14-13 Monday.

Li, the champion of last year’s world championships, went in for a frantic attack in the women’s epee, when she was falling behind 10-13 with only about 15 seconds left. She won three points and conceded one until the time ran out, reports Xinhua.

The 31-year-old was apparently left distraught by the close loss and rushed back to the locker room without speaking to the waiting press.

Heidemann said she enjoyed some psychological edge over Li and that was the main reason for her win.

“I participated in a lot of big international competitions, such as world championships and the Olympic Games. And I also won at the Beijing Olympics, but Li Na lost several times,” she said.

The 29-year-old German said she employed a counter-attack tactics against Li, and it worked.