Ale and Hubaida, the world number six pair in men's doubles WH1-WH2, beat Ignacio Fernandez and Francisco Motero of Spain 21-12, 21-8 to top their group in this Badminton World Federation event.

Ale, however, said yesterday's 21-17, 23-21 win against Thailand's Dumnern Junthong and Anuwat Sriboran had been the turning point.

"That win [over Thailand] was important for us to cement our place in the elimination round," he said.

"It has been a good tournament so far.

"We have worked hard for the World championships for a long time, especially on our accuracy and combination and now the results are showing.

"Hopefully we can go back home with a podium finish this time."

In tomorrow’s match, Ale and Hubaida will face France's Thomas Jacobs and David Toupe.

Meanwhile, the top seeds in the men's doubles SL3-SL4, Paralympic SL3 champion Pramod Bhagat and his Indian compatriot Manoj Sarkar, a Paralympic bronze medallist, lived up to their billing and reached the last eight.

Also through to the quarter-finals were team-mates and second seeds Chirag Baretha and Raj Kumar in men's doubles SL3-SU5.

Bhagat and Sarkar beat South Korea's Joo Dong-jae and Shin Kyung-hwan 21-17, 16-21, 21-10, while Baretha and Kumar earned a 21-2, 21-7 win over Jorge Enrique Moreno and Jean Paul Ortiz Vargas of Colombia.

"I am feeling very positive about my performance in men's doubles and mixed doubles [with Mandeep Kaur]," Baretha, the 2017 Asian Youth Para Games bronze medallist, told the Paralympic Committee of India's news service.

"I feel we have a good combination of youth and experience, with Rajkumar Bhaiya guiding me throughout.”

Hardik Makkar and Ruthick Ragupathi, both making their debut in this competition, rallied from a game down to defeat Chinese Taipei’s Gui Yu Pu and Yeh En-Chuan 18-21, 21-16, 21-19 in their last group match.

Meanwhile, Suhas Yathiraj and Umesh Vikram Kumar advanced with a 22-24, 21-19, 21-15 win over France's third seeds Gailly Guillaume and Thomas Mathieu in a men's doubles SL3-SL4 match.

In the SH6 category, India will have two mixed doubles pairs - Krishna Nagar and Nithya Sre Sumathy Sivan, and Sivarajan Solaimalai and Rachana Shaileshkumar Patel - challenging for the podium.

Reigning world champion Manasi Joshi will be involved in three quarter-finals - in the singles, the SL3-SU5 doubles with Shanthiya Viswanathan and the SL3-SU5 mixed doubles with Ragupathi.

Joshi and Viswanathan will face compatriots and top seeds Mandeep Kaur and Manisha Ramadass.