The Japanese trio of Yuto Kizukuri, Tomokazu Harimoto and Yuki Matsuyama survived a scare in their opening Group A contest in the second stage of the event at the GrandWest Casino and Entertainment World venue as they narrowly overcame the Czech Republic 3-2.

Patrik Klos got the Czechs on the board in the opening singles match as he fought back from two games down to beat Kizukuri 9-11, 5-11, 12-10, 12-10, 11-8.

Japan then turned the encounter on its head as Harimoto saw off Tomas Polansky 11-6, 11-4, 8-11, 11-8 before Matsuyama ousted Jiri Martinko 8-11, 11-7, 13-15, 11-7, 11-8 to give the Asian team a 2-1 lead.

Polanksy hit back, however, as he squared the tie with a 11-6, 11-8, 5-11, 11-3 success against Kizukuri to send the group stage match into a decider.

Fortunately for Japan, Harimoto broke Czech hearts as he won his second contest of the day, prevailing 11-5, 11-7, 11-5 over Klos.

The Japanese trio then went on to beat Romania by the same 3-2 scoreline later in the day to finish top of the group.

"This is my first World Junior Championships and I was a bit nervous in my match because I wanted to win to be able to help the team,” Harimoto said.

"I am happy that we won at last.

"Even though I am rated number one for this tournament, I am not thinking of that because my target is to win the team, singles, mixed doubles and doubles events."

China joined Japan in the next round as they earned dominant 3-0 victories over Chinese Taipei and Italy in Group B.

France were the only other team in the second phase to claim two wins as they swept aside Belgiim 3-0 before they dropped one match on their way to a 3-1 win against Hong Kong.

In the girls’ team event, Japan followed in the footsteps of their male counterparts by recording two victories.

They cruised to 3-0 triumphs over Chinese Taipei and the United States to seal top spot in Group A.

The Chinese side also managed the feat, beating Brazil and Russia by commanding 3-0 scorelines.

Action at the event in Cape Town continues tomorrow.