Even Japan's Olympic champions couldn't save the home of judo from another dismal day at the Asian Games.

After a disappointing first day on the judo mats, Japan was hoping to dominate the gold in their native sport on Sunday with two Athens Olympic champions scheduled to compete.

Japan's Masae Ueno (blue) competes against South Korea Bae Eun Hye during the final of women's under 70 kg judo competition at Asian Games in Doha December 3, 2006. Ueno won the gold medal. [Reuters]

But their hopes were dashed when Ayumi Tanimoto was beaten by South Korea's Kong Ja-young in the women's under-63 kilogram division. Kong went on to win the silver, and China's Xu Yuhua took the gold.

"I was aiming for the gold, but I ended up with the bronze," Tanimoto said. "I lost against myself."

Athens champion Masae Ueno came through in the women's under-70-kilogram division, throwing South Korea's Bae Eun-hye to the mat in 3 minutes, 26 seconds.

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But Ueno was Japan's only winner.

At 81 kilos, Takashi Ono, the 2005 world championships bronze medalist, had to settle for third place yet again. Gold went to Mongolia's Nyamkhuu Damdinsuren, who defeated Kazakhstan's Almas Atayev in the final.

And in the 90-kilogram category, 2005 world champion Hiroshi Izumi also failed to make the final. Winning the division was South Korea's Hwang Hee-tae, a former world champion, who beat Kazakhstan's Maxim Rakov on points. Izumi defeated Tajikistan's Parviz Sobirov for the bronze.

Japan, which has set its sights on winning most of the Asian Games 16 judo gold, has won just three of the eight medals decided at the four-day competition's halfway mark.

On Saturday, Midori Shintani, the 2005 open-weight world champion, was eliminated in the first round, paving the way for current world champion and the defending Asian Games gold medalist Tong Wen of China to cruise to the title. In men's, rising star Satoru Ishii, at 19 Japan's youngest national champion, was thrown to defeat by South Korea's Jang Sung-ho in the final bout.

Saturday's competition was not without its high points for the Japanese judoka.

Yasuyuki Muneta defended his gold from the 2002 Asian Games in Busan by outscoring Iranian giant Mohammad Reza Rodaki, who stands two meters tall, with one "waza-ari" and two "yuko" in the men's over-100-kilogram class. Muneta is only the fourth judoka to defend his title at the games.

In women's, Sae Nakazawa, competing in her first Asian Games, won the under-78-kilogram division.

With three golds, Japan still had more than any other country _ China and South Korea have two apiece, and Mongolia one.

But after Sunday's losses, the Japanese were clearly angry with themselves.

"I wasn't in the best condition," Ono said. "I was not mentally strong."