It turned out to be a disappointing day for the Indians at the World Boxing Championships in Chicago, as Jitender Kumar and Jai Bhagwan missed Olympic qualification, crashing out in the pre-quarter-finals.

Jitender went down fighting 9-14 to three-time European champion Georgy Balakshin of Russia [Images] in the flyweight category.

• Boxer Lakra qualifies for 2008 Olympics

Bhagwan, on the other hand, lost 7-16 to Colombian Darley Perez in the lightweight category. The duo needed to make the quarter-finals to book a berth in Beijing [Images] Olympics [Images] next year.

Jitender and Balakshin were off to a slow start. Both boxers tied at a point each in the opening round. The Russian took off in the second round and established a three-point lead. Jitender tried hard for a comeback in the next two rounds but could not bridge the gap.

Bhagwan's bout was also a close affair in the first two rounds, the Indian being just couple of points behind his opponent.

The turning point of the fight was the penultimate round in which Bhagwan failed to score a single point.

Perez then came up with a flurry of punches in the final round to overcome the Indian.

Jitender and Bhagwan's loss leaves A L Lakra as the only Indian in fray after the last-16 stage. The featherweight pugilist will take on Chinese Yang Li in the quarter-finals on Thursday.

India is currently tied for the 17th spot in the Championship table with nine points. Russia lead the pack with 24 points, closely followed by China, with 23 points.

The United States is placed third with 21 points.