SOLO: India's junior team fought valiantly before suffering a narrow 104-110 defeat to former champion Japan in the quarter-final of the Badminton Asia Junior Mixed Team Championships here on Monday.

In a closely contested tie under the relay scoring system, India came out strong after a narrow 11-9 loss in the opening match.

The boys' doubles duo of Bhargav Ram Arigela and Viswa Tej Gobburu got India on the board, followed by a composed win from the girls' pair of Vennala Kalagotla and Reshika Uthayasooriyan. The result put India ahead at 33-26.

Reshika then combined with Bhavya Chhabra to maintain the lead at 44-35, and Rounak Chouhan extended the cushion with another solid performance.

India led for a major part of the tie, but Japan, the 2023 champions, pulled ahead in the final stretch, winning the last five matches in a row. Several of those games went down to the wire, reflecting the grit showed by the Indian squad.

India had topped Group D with wins over Hong Kong China, United Arab Emirates, and Sri Lanka.

The focus now shifts to the individual championships starting July 23.