SENDAI, Japan, May 1 (Xinhua) -- Fourth seed South Korea, the semi-finalist in the last Thomas Cup final, clinched the quarter-final berth at the ongoing Thomas Cup by ousting European archrival Germany here on Monday.

    Indonesia's defeat in group B sent the South Koreans to the knock-out stage to fight for the remaining four berths to the quarter-finals.

    With victories from the first two singles and first doubles, South Korea stopped Germany 3-0. But they will meet a strong challenge in the following match against second seeded Malaysia on Wednesday.

    In the day's other Thomas Cup matches, India, host Japan and England overwhelmed New Zealand, the United States and South Africa, all with an identical score of 3-0.

    For India, ranked fourth in the Asian qualifying zone, it is the first time for it to march into the quarter-finals of the Thomas Cup, the men's biggest badminton team event in the world.

    The four matches in the Uber Cup also got the same score sheet,when the Netherland, Chinese Taipei, Singapore and Germany made little efforts to knock out the United States, England, New Zealand and South Africa respectively.

    Top teams from the four groups, both in the Thomas Cup and the Uber Cup, got the quarter-final berths on Sunday, which will be held in Tokyo from May 3rd to 7th. Enditem