Rapatkorn, who made an impact last year after she captured the gold medal at the Asian Championships and the World Cup Team Championships in Bankgok, advanced to the third round as an odds-on favourite.

However, her defensive skills, which are her strength, failed her and she lost 8-4 to her Taiwanese opponent.

Earlier, Rapatkorn, who clinched a bronze medal at the Valencia-hosted World University Taekwondo Championships in Spain two years ago, edged Jordanian Nadin Dawan in the first round before going on to trounce Venezuelan Nataly Maza 4-1 in the second round.

At the end of the five-day world meet yesterday, the Thai taekwondo squad had captured four medals including three silver.

The Thai women's squad finished seventh overall after winning two medals - one silver by Yaowapa Boorapolchai and one bronze from Watcharaporn Dongnoi.

The men's team finished in fourth position with two silver medals by Chatchawal Khaola-or and Nacha Punthong.

The three silver medallists will each receive Bt500,000 as incentive from the National Sports Development Fund, while bronze medallist Watcharaporn will be awarded Bt200,000.

"I'm happy with the results. This is one of our better performances, I think. We sent a total of 12 competitors to the tournament and four of them won medals," said Thai team manager Natthapon Teepasuwan.

"By taking part in the world-class tournament, I think we can raise our levels to meet international standards. Representatives from several countries praised our rapid progress shown in the competition. However, we still have many weak points to improve," he said.

All the Thai fighters and officials are due to return to Bangkok this afternoon.