New Delhi, Jul 19 (PTI) The young Indian shuttlers overcame a gritty challenge from the United States to advance to the mixed team quarterfinals, while talented tennis player Vaishnavi Adkar secured a place in the pre-quarterfinals at the World University Games in Germany's Rhine-Ruhr region on Saturday.

Taekwondo exponents Anika fought hard before losing her 46kg quarterfinal bout to a South Korean, while fencer Abhinansh Meitei lost in the pre-quarterfinal after commendable wins against Qatari and Israeli opponents on day three of competitions.

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However, it was the Indian mixed team shuttlers who held centre-stage defeating USA 3-1 to set up a quarterfinal clash with Malaysia later in the day, and be one step away from ensuring a medal for the country.

The mixed doubles pair of Sathish Karunakaran and Vaishnavi Khadekar gave India a 1-0 lead when they beat Arthur Lee and Katelin Ngo 13-15, 15-3, 15-12.

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Saneeth Dayanand, ranked 100th in the world, then overcame Ryan Ma 15-8, 10-15, 15-7 to give India a 2-0 lead. Upcoming women's singles player Devika Sihag put up a fight before losing to Ella Lin 11-15, 20-21 as India led 2-1.

However, the men's doubles pair of Saneeth Dayanand and Sathish Karunakaran closed out the tie with a dominating 15-9, 15-9 win over Andre Chim and Samuel Wales Li.

In tennis, 20-year-old Vaishnavi Adkar had little trouble overcoming Finland's Venla Elisa Ahti 6-2, 6-4 to enter the pre-quarterfinals on the strength of her superior second serve.

Taekwondo exponent Anika defeated Germany's Ingrid-gabriela Busuioc and Helin Rüya Kodaman in the round of 32 and pre-quarterfinals respectively before she finally met her match in South Korea's Kim Yunseo in the 46kg quarterfinal.

Armaan Yadav in 52kg category lost his round-of-32 bout to Kazakhstan's Aziret Duisenbek 0-2, while Payal too couldn't advance in 57kg category, losing to a Portuguese opponent.

Fencer Abhinash Meitei got past Qatar's Abdalla Khalifa 15-5 in men's individual foil after dominating all three periods in round of 64. He then overcame Adam Eliaz of Israel 15-9 in the round of 32, before being outsmarted by Poland's Jan Hieromin Nowak 15-8 in the pre-quarters.

Abhinash was in the contest till the second period, which he won 4-6, but Nowak was too good for him in the third period winning 3-0.

Indian women cagers lost to Argentina 57-86 and will take on Finland in the last Group A match on Sunday with no chances of making it to the knockouts.

Indian women's table tennis team lost their the quarterfinals to Chinese Taipei 0-3 thus ending their run in the competition.

Pritha Vartikar lost to Cheng Pusyuan 9-11, 5-11, 13-11, 4-11, while Sayali Wani was overpowered by Chien Tung-chuan 11-4, 3-11, 11-9, 6-11, 5-11 in a a match of swinging fortunes. Suhana Saini was then beaten by Huang Yu-jie 6-11, 8-11, 8-11.

In individual competition, Suhana got the better of Azerbaijan's Nigar Mahmudova 11-3, 11-5, 11-8 in Group 4, Taneesha Kotecha defeated Mariam El Habech of Lebanon 11-4, 11-8, 11-9 in Group 2 and Pritha Vartikar defeated USA's Emily Tan 7-11, 2-11, 11-8, 11-5, 11-9 in Group 16.

India finished last in the 4×100 medley clocking 4:12.70 seconds. PTI AM.

(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)