India, who put up a plucky show before going down by a solitary goal against Japan, will look forward to beating a demoralised Nepal when they clash at the main stadium in Trang Province.

Coming into the competition, India were not given much chance of keeping the margin low against Japan, but they not only held their superior rivals at bay till the 55th minute, but carried out impressive sallies on their own.

Pillay to carry flag

Hockey captain Dhanraj Pillay will carry the Indian flag at the opening ceremony marchpast on Sunday, the Indian Olympic Association (IOA) president Suresh Kalmadi said in New Delhi.

Indian tricolour hoisted THE Indian tricolour was hoisted at the Games village in the Thammasat University Sports Complex at a simplefunction in the presence of a fair number of the Indian contingent.

Players to protest India will lodge a ``strong'' protest tomorrow regarding the scheduling of its men's hockey matches starting on Sunday.

Chief coach MK Kaushik said he, in the managers' meeting tomorrow, will point out the fact that there was less than 24 hours gap between two of India's crucial league phase matches. The gap of just 22 hours is in contravention of the rules which provide for separation of at least 24 hours, he said.