India's three-member girls' team emerged on top of its group to reach the quarter-finals in the junior Fed Cup Asia-Oceania zonal qualifying tennis competition in Kuala Lumpur on Thursday.

India, seeded second, won both its matches, against New Zealand and Japan by an identical margin of 2-1 to top Group 3.

In the tie against Japan, Sanaa Bhambri gave India a 1-0 lead, defeating Megumi Fukui 7-5, 6-2 in the first singles.

Tara Iyer then stretched the margin to an unassailable 2-0 with a 2-6, 6-2, 6-2 win over Mari Tanaka.

But in the doubles match that followed, Sanaa and Kartiki Bhat went down to Tanaka and Fukui 7-5, 6-7 (1/7), 1-6.

India now face Korea in the last-eight.

In the other quarter-final matches, Chinese Taipei play New Zealand, Indonesia clash with Japan, and Malaysia take on Thailand.

Earlier, in the first round, on Tuesday, India defeated New Zealand 2-1 in their first match.

Sanaa Bhambri lost to Ellen Barry 6-3, 4-6, 4-6 but Tara Iyer defeated Shona Lee 6-1, 6-3.

In the doubles,  Kartiki Bhat/ S.Bhambri beat E.Barry/ Brittany Teei 6-1, 6-1 to clinch victory.

The top four nations from the region qualify for the finals, which will be played later this year.

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