Makoto Sasamoto lost a controversial ruling to two-time Olympic champion Armen Nazarian of Bulgaria in a second-round qualification match at 60 kg before ending his campaign in Greco-Roman wrestling in fifth place at the Athens Olympics on Thursday.
Sasamoto, who had made a strong start in the first round in a bid to improve on an eighth-place finish in Sydney four years ago, lost the match 5-3 on the points awarded to Nazarian, which could have gone the opposite way with less than 20 seconds left.
Trailing Nazarian by just one point at Ano Liossia Olympic Hall, Sasamoto flipped him in a reverse, but the Bulgarian landed on top of Sasamoto for advantage.
The referee gave the Bulgarian a violation for an illegal hand placement, but that call was later overruled by the mat chairman who awarded two points to Nazarian after watching video footage.