Paddlers Harmeet Singh and Sanil Shetty, however, had to face a defeat in the quarter-finals against Zhe Yu Clarence and Shao Feng Ethan in the men's doubles.
Akula and Kamal defeated the Malaysian duo of Ho Ying and Leong Cheng Feng by 3-1. Manika Batra and Sathiyan Gnanasekaran defeated the Nigerian team consisting of Ajoke Ojomu and Olajide Omotayo by 3-0
The doubles team of Harmeet Desai and Sathiyan Gnanasekaran beat Singapore's Shao Feng Ethan Poh and Clarence Chew Zhe Yu 11-5, 11-5 to give India a 1-0 lead.
Sharath Kamal, who has been part of the Indian national team for two decades now, also said mental training and conditioning, just like physical training and conditioning is a daily process.