China's men's and women's badminton teams scored crucial victories on Thursday to reach the quarterfinals of the Thomas and Uber Cup in Aarhus, Denmark.

In the men's Thomas Cup, China defeated India 4-1 in the final round of group play.

Shi Yuqi made a perfect start by outplaying India's Srikanth Kidambi 21-12, 21-16 in the singles opener at the Ceres Arena, after having been on the sidelines during the previous two rounds.

"Compared with other players, we are less experienced," said Shi. "I want to contribute more to my team and ease the pressure on my teammates. I believe chances will be on our side if every one of us tries hard."

New pair He Jiting and Zhou Haodong lost to Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty 14-21, 14-21 in the second doubles match, marking China's first defeat in the tournament's group stage and tying the score at 1-1.

"We did not do well most of the time today, but our opponents finished strong attacks," said 23-year-old Zhou. "We were probably not well prepared and fell into traps as the game went on."

Lu Guangzu then defeated Sameer Verma 14-21, 21-9, 24-22, collecting one more point to give China a 2-1 lead.

"I had too many turnovers in the first set and the decider when the scores went to 13-13. I had hoped to finish smart and strong, but on the contrary, I was losing points too quickly. When Sameer got the match point, my tactics still worked and I was lucky to turn the game."

In the final two matches, Liu Cheng and Wang Yilyu smashed Indian duo Madathil Ramachandran Arjun and Dhruv Kapila 26-24, 21-19, before Li Shifeng defeated Kiran George 21-15, 21-17, ensuring a place in the quarters for the Chinese team. 

In the women's Uber Cup, Team China defeated Chinese Taipei 3-0.

Chen Yufei won the opener 21-16, 21-13 over Pai Yu-po, before He Bingjiao finished off Hung Yi-ting in 28 minutes, 21-14, 21-9, in the singles matches.

Chinese pair Chen Qingchen and Jia Yifan then defeated Hsu Ya-ching and Hu Ling-fang 21-10, 18-21, 21-14 in the doubles.

Team China will face Thailand in both the men's and women's quarterfinals on Friday.

(With input from Xinhua)