Ireland's Denis Lynch is one of 14 riders in joint 14th place following the first qualifier in the individual show jumping competition at Sha Tin.
Germany-based Lynch incurred a single time fault on the 10-year-old gelding Lantinus and others in the same position include Britain's Nick Skelton and Ben Maher, the current Olympic champion Rodrigo Pessoa, Belgium's Jos Lansink and Norwegian rider Tony Andre Hansen who is trained by former Army Equitation School rider, Gerry Mullins.
Local rider Patrick Lam had spectators cheering him home like a gold medal winner when recording a clear round for Hong Kong on Urban and shares the top spot going into tomorrow's second qualifier.
Switzerland's Christina Liebherr recorded the first clear of the competition with No Mercy while the Beezie Madden-partnered Authentic was one of three horses to return on a zero score for the United States.
While this opening event does not have an impact on the team medals, the German squad will be disappointed with their performance with all four combinations incurring jumping penalties.