The Indians were off to an ominous start as former Asian champion Yasin Merchant lost to former world champion Marco Fu 1-5. Alok Kumar routed Chanwaj Tat 5-0 to draw parity but in the crucial third match, Devender Joshi went down 1-5 against Chang Knok Ming.

Sailors disappoint

India failed to win a single medal in sailing for the first time since the sport was introduced in the seventies when Ashim Mongia and Pushpendra Garg ended outside the top three in the Enterprise Class at the end of the 10-race regatta.

The Mongia-Garg pair were set for a silver or bronze going into the last two races only to belie hopes and end up fourth with a tally of 22 penalty points, one more than bronze medal winners Sri Lanka (L Jirashina and WP Jinaka).

South Korea sailed to the gold with 16 penalties while the experienced Pak duo of Mamoon and Munir Sadiq accumulated 18 penaltiesto clinch silver.

Open OK Class sailor Gautam Dutta also flopped, finishing fourth with 22 penalties. South Korea's Jin Hong-Chu (11) notched gold.

Spikers lose

Having tasted two successive wins, India were given a dose of bitter medicine by Indonesian spikers today. The Indians lost 12-15 5-15 14-16 in the relegation matches for the fifth to eighth spots. India, which takes on hosts Thailand tomorrow, tried all in its armoury in a valiant battle but could not get the better of the Indonesians.

In the third set, India put up a brave fight, thanks to some good effort by captain Rajesh, Ratanlal, Ramdan, Yawar Ali and Joy Joseph.

India will take the sixth spot if it beats Thailand tomorrow.

Rider's challenge ends

The Indian challenge in the equestrian competition ended with Kapil Modi being ousted from the individual dressage event. Modi, astride Domino, could not start today due to problems with his mount.

Harpal Singh loses

Indian hopes of gaining a third medal fromboxing vanished when superheavy pugilist Harpal Singh went down to Pakistan's S Shahid on points in the quarter-final bout.

The 25-year-old Punjab Police inspector was more purposeful and held the early edge by landing a few combination punches on his opponent, but began receiving a series of blows to his face as the Pakistani boxer went for wild swings at his opponent.