Susan Smith's apprenticeship in the demanding world of hurdling is on-going after she failed to deliver on the hopes of her supporters in the European 400 metres hurdles final in Budapest last evening.

Having attained an impressive rate of development over the past two years, Smith discovered that she has still some way to travel to championship fulfilment when finishing eighth in a race won with imperious authority by Romania's Ionela Tirlea.

Drawing heavily on her flat speed, Tirlea got away from her great rival, Tatyana Tereshchuk over the last two hurdles and momentum had taken her three metres clear when she crossed the line in 53.37 seconds. Smith was timed at 55.61.

It was a big pay-off for the Romanian who, influenced no doubt by the intimidating presence of Grit Breuer, had rejected the chance of gold in the 400 flat race to gamble on the hurdles event.

Stride for stride, the big two matched each other over the first seven hurdles, but when Tereshchuk found herself having to reach for the next barrier, it was all over.

"I still have problems running the curve, but after that everything was fine," said Tirlea. "Just now, I'm the happiest woman in the world."

Those sentiments contrasted starkly with the deep disappointment of Smith who, as suspected, hadn't recovered fully from her ordeal in Wednesday's semi-finals.

Drawn in the favoured fourth lane, she went out strongly but was already losing ground to those inside her when her stride pattern went all wrong at the seventh hurdle. In that moment she knew the worst and, with Tirlea and Tereshchuk cramming on the pressure in the outside lanes, there was no way back for her.

She was still able to manage a smile, however, when she said: "It just hasn't been my couple of days. I gave it everything I had, but when I heard the athletes on the inside lanes beginning to close in during the first half of the race I knew I was struggling.

"It's another learning experience, but it's one I could have done without. But I'm still coming back for the 100 metres hurdles tomorrow."

Sinead Delahunty is anticipating her first appearance in a major championship final tomorrow after qualifying for the 1,500 metres as one of the fastest losers.

At one point, it looked as if she would secure one of the automatic qualifying places, but after extricating herself from a tight situation on the kerb, she had to settle for fifth place in a race which was won by Olympic champion Svetlana Masterkova of Russia.

Without ever putting her foot on the accelerator, Masterkova made the rest look ordinary when winning in four minutes 8.62 seconds, a full second faster than the woman in green.

"I didn't get away too quickly, but once I settled I was always quite comfortable," Delahunty said. "The only disappointment was that I didn't go through with my run over the last 100 metres."

Gary Ryan was left to ruminate on an uneven performance after failing to make the cut for the finals of the men's 200 metres.

After gambling on attacking off the blocks, Ryan struggled blatantly into an adverse wind when he hit the straight and was eventually last of eight in 21.28 seconds. The semi-final was won by Scotland's Doug Walker, who went on take to take the title as British athletes executed a clean sweep of the medals.

The Irishman is seldom less than competitive over the last 60 metres, but this time he drifted to the end of the field.

Earlier, the inaugural women's hammer-throw championship had proved something of a disaster for the Irish, with Olive Kelleher fouling all three of her throws and Nicola Coffey finishing just ahead of her at the bottom of the order.