Euan Burton settles for German Grand Prix silver

By Martin Gough

Burton got a confidence boost ahead of April's European Championships

Britain's Euan Burton confessed to mixed emotions after coming within a "hair's breadth" of winning the world-ranking German Grand Prix.

Burton's tie with 2008 Olympic silver medallist Jae-Bum Kim of South Korea in the -81kg final was broken based on penalty decisions, Burton losing 3-2.

"I proved again that I can do it at the top level but losing in a final is always a disappointment," he said.

"Being left to the referee's decision is never the best way to win or lose."

The victory was revenge for Kim, who fell to Burton in the final of December's Tokyo Grand Slam.

His face was all bashed and mine is swollen; it was a real ding-dong battle

Euan Burton

"Kim has proved time and again that he is world class, with Olympic medals and world medals," Edinburgh-based Burton told BBC Sport.

"His face was all bashed and mine is swollen. He has the best of the first two-and-a-half minutes and I had the best of the last two-and-a-half.

"It was a real ding-dong battle and this time I came out on the wrong side."

However, the result has given extra confidence to Burton, who confessed to being run down after a busy training and competition period, before the European Championships in April.

"I've felt rough all week and really flat over the last couple of days but it's great to be fighting badly and still getting results," he added.

Burton's Edinburgh club-mates had less success, with Sarah Adlington fifth in the +78kg category and Sarah Clark going out in the second round of the -63kg.