Although they lost to Ukraine in the women's team sabre final, the Chinese fencers said they have already done a good job and tried their best.

"Although we missed the gold, we did a great job today," said Ni Hong, one of the three fencers competing in the final.

Her teammates agreed. "We tried our best today and performed at a high level," said Tan Xue, silver medalist in the women's sabre at 2004 Athens Olympic Games. "We had ups and downs during the match and we still lack experience in dealing with key points."

Tan Xue

China opened a huge lead early in the final, but allowed Ukraine to claw back.

Tan went into the final bout with a five-point lead but lost her rhythm against Ukrainian Olga Kharlan.

Although she put China on the verge of victory by leading at 44-43, the unfancied Kharlan soon leveled the score at 44-44 and pushed the game into the deciding last counter.

This time, Tan succumbed under the pressure and allowed her opponent to take the precious point.

"We lost the game because we were not psychologically prepared, especially Tan," said the Chinese team's French coach, Chiristian Bauer.

Tan was not the only one who was beaten by pressure. Her teammate Bao Yingying was also not able to give her best, losing eight consecutive points in her bout.

"I wanted a good performance to make up for my poor show in the individual competition. But I thought too much and that cost me in some crucial moments," Bao said.

It is still a good result for Bauer, who will end his two-year contract after the Beijing Games. On Tuesday, he guided Zhong Man to win a surprising gold in men's sabre.