Tanvi Sharma made a backhand return and stepped forward, only to watch Sun Li Yuan lift the shuttle and send it past the Indian towards the end of the second game. It was the only moment where the home favourite was caught off-guard in an otherwise clinical 15-8, 15-5 victory in the round of 16 of the World junior badminton championships in Guwahati on Thursday.

With Unnati Hooda and Tankara Gnana Dattu Talasila in singles, the mixed doubles pair of Bhavya Chhabra and Vishakha Toppo, and the boys' doubles duo of Bhargav Ram Arigela and Viswa Tej Gobburu also progressing, the host nation can confirm as many as five medals by winning Friday's quarterfinals.

Top seed Tanvi showed no signs of nerves against Sun, a Chinese player who made her debut at the international stage, and dictated the match from first to last point. She repeatedly pushed Sun to the back of the court before ending the point with a drop shot. Tanvi will hope to make amends for last year's quarterfinal exit when she takes on Japan's Saki Matsumoto.

Unnati overcame a 3-9 deficit in the opener to take down Malaysia's Carine Tee 15-10, 15-7, a player who relied solely on defence and an occasional drop shot.

However, Rakshitha Sree Santhosh Ramraj went down 11-15, 9-15 to Sri Lanka's Ranithma Liyanage in a physical battle lasting 33 minutes.

Gnana Dattu survived a late charge from explosive American Garret Tan and converted his fourth match point to secure a 15-12, 15-13 win. "I knew if I played well, I would come this far and now, I feel more motivated since I am the only Indian left (in boys' singles) and everything is on me," said the 17-year-old Hyderabadi.

Other results (pre-quarterfinals, Indians only): Mixed doubles: Bhavya Chhabra & Vishakha Toppo bt Thibault Gardon & Agathe Cuevas (Fra) 12-15, 15-11, 15-12.

Boys' doubles: Bhargav Ram Arigela & Viswa Tej Gobburu bt Yi Hsuan Chen & Chun Yen Chu (Tpe) 13-15, 15-9, 15-13.

Girls' doubles: Salsabila Zahra Aulia & Jania Novalita Situmorang (Ina) bt Vennala Kalagotla & Reshika Uthayasooriyan 14-16, 15-12, 15-8; Cheon Hye In & Moon In Seo (Kor) bt Aanya Bisht & Angel Punera 15-7, 15-8.

World junior badminton championships | Tanvi, Unnati and Gnana Dattu in quarterfinals