JUST two days ago, an H1N1 scare had threatened to end Singapore's table tennis mixed team campaign even before it started.

The team had come close to being withdrawn after two of their players were identified as potential close contacts of national youth teammate Kerry Tan, a confirmed H1N1 victim.

But they were cleared to play - and now the quartet of Clarence Chew, Tay Jit Kiat, both 13, Isabelle Li and Chau Hai Qing, both 14, are just a win away from securing a medal at the Asian Youth Games.

On Thursday morning, the sixth seeds stunned fourth seeds Hong Kong 2-1 at the Toa Payoh Sports Hall.

They followed that up with an emphatic 3-0 win over Kuwait in the afternoon, to finish top of Group D in the round-robin first stage.

Their reward: A place in the quarter-finals, where they will take on Group C runners-up India at 9am today.

The luck of the draw ensured that the hosts avoided relatively tougher opponents in Japan and North Korea. It also pitted the two pre-tournament favourites, China and Japan, against each other.

That prompted whispers from some of the 20-odd officials from the participating nations - who gathered at the Singapore Table Tennis Association to witness the computerised draw - on how lucky Singapore were to avoid the stronger opponents.

Still, no one could question Singapore's endeavour in the group phase - in particular, their defining win over Hong Kong, which meant that they would not have to face the winners of either of the other three groups.

Isabelle got the Republic off to a perfect start with an 11-7, 11-6, 11-5 win over Hong Kong's Ng Ka Yee.

Clarence then lost the battle against Chiu Chung Hei 7-11, 13-11, 7-11, 3-11.

But he went on to win the war with Isabelle, defeating Chung Hei and Li Ching Wan 11-8, 8-11, 11-8, 7-11, 11-8 in the mixed doubles.

The fifth game was an intense affair, with Singapore throwing everything at their rivals to lead from start to finish.

Isabelle twice found herself sprawled on the floor in an attempt to retrieve difficult shots.

Singapore had also battled furiously in the third game, which saw them fighting back from 1-6 and 4-8 down.

Isabelle said: 'That was really crucial. If we'd gone 1-2 down, it would have been an uphill battle.'

Singapore are hoping to cause another upset against an Indian team ranked 16 rungs above them.

Team manager Soon Min Sin said: 'They are 60 per cent favourites. But we will make full use of our 40 per cent chance to win.'

linxinyi@sph.com.sg