Hannah Taylor's supporters gather in Summerside to watch 'a great loss'

P.E.I.'s Hannah Taylor had a difficult first draw in Olympic wrestling, and ultimately was unable to prevail in her Thursday morning match against number 1 seed Tsugumi Sakurai of Japan.

Kierra MacDougall, a 17-year-old wrestler also from Summerside, was among close to 60 people who gathered in Summerside at 6 a.m. to watch the bout.

"I was ill, really nervous, knowing she was going in fighting Japan," said MacDougall. "Japan is notorious for being a really tough team in wrestling."

Taylor lost the 57-kilogram class bout 6-1. She trailed 3-1 after the first period, recovering a point at the end of the round.

Fellow wrestler Kierra MacDougall, who attended a watch party early Thursday at Credit Union Place in Summerside, was thrilled to see Hannah Taylor competing in the Olympics. (Stacey Janzer/CBC)

In the second period, Taylor was developing an advantage over Sakurai, but ran out of room and gave up a point for stepping outside the ring.

'A technical chess match'

Starting again from the centre, Sakurai pinned Taylor toward the end of the round for another two points, bringing the final score to 6-1.

"It was a great loss," said C.J. Studer, coach of the Summerside Cyclones and the organizer of the watch party.

"She was fighting the number one in the world. It was a technical chess match, is what it was."

Coach C. J. Studer is shown watching the wrestling action in Paris during the Summerside watch party. (Stacey Janzer/CBC)

Studer was impressed with the turnout at the watch party at Summerside's Credit Union Place. That early in the day, he was expecting only 10 people or so; six times that many showed up.

"We just want to let Hannah know that we have her back and we're cheering for her," said Studer.

MacDougall was thrilled to see Taylor competing at the Olympics.

"It means a lot because Summerside is such a small town," she said. "It just shows that Summerside can be big. It can compete with the rest of the world."

'I scored on the number one'

Speaking in Paris after the match, Taylor said she had received hundreds of messages of support.

If Sakurai reaches the gold-medal match, Taylor will have another chance to compete in the repechage, and potentially fight through to a bronze-medal bout.

Taylor feels good about the chances of Sakurai making it through, but in any case is pleased by her performance in Paris.

"I feel good that I scored on the number-one-ranked wrestler in the entire world," she said. "I knew I was up for a very hard match first off, but if I'm going to lose, it might as well be to the very best wrestler."