Judo: Millar fails in repechage bid

The 29-year-old has endured the unluckiest of seasons, having been struck down with a knee ligament problem on the eve of the European Championships and as a result he was forced to miss out on the trip to Istanbul in April.

His World Championship campaign started brightly enough yesterday and Millar chalked up victories over Greece’s Manolis Savvdis as well as Tobias Englmaier but the draw showed him no favours and he faced Zantaraia for a place in the last eight.

“A good World Championships would have meant getting a medal but with all these competitions you just have to see how the draw goes,” Millar said. “You have to take it fight by fight because if you plan too far ahead, you get caught up in it so it’s best to take it as it comes.”