Hungarian top seed Anna Izsák thrashed Lebanon's Maria Chedid 12-5, 12-2 in the clash between the two players in Group A who were undefeated through their two matches on the first day, before rounding off with a 12-3, 12-5 victory against Iva Burvalova of the Czech Republic.

Izsák is the strong favourite to clinch gold at the Gliwice Arena as she is ranked nearly 100 places above second seed Julian.

The French player beat the eventual group-winner Paulina Lezak of Poland 12-11, 6-12, 12-7 - the home favourite's only defeat so far - and followed it up with a 12-4, 9-12, 12-9 win against Spain's Silvia Ferrer Garcia, who finished bottom.

However, the fact both of those matches went to three sets, coupled with a loss against "neutral" Russian Teqball Athlete Ekaterina Poteshkina on the first day, meant Julian placed third in a group in which the top three players all collected seven points.

As a result, she faces a tough assignment against Izsák at the start of tomorrow's knockout stage.

The winner of that tie could be on a collision course for a semi-final against the United States' Carolyn Greco, who impressively navigated her way through a close Group C without losing a set.

Greco is the top-ranked women's doubles player by the International Federation of Teqball (FITEQ), but seeded sixth in the singles at the World Championships.

After two wins on the first day, Greco notched an impressive 12-6, 12-8 victory against the third seed Natalia Guitler of Brazil, before overcoming the Norwegian player Pernille Ingvaldsen Smith 12-10, 12-6.

Smith began the day top of the standings, but had played a game more, and defeats to Guitler and Greco meant she finished third, although this was still enough to progress to the quarter-finals.

The unranked Poteshkina stands in Greco's way of a semi-final against one of the top two seeds.

In the other half of the draw, Lezak will continue to carry the hosts' hopes in her last-eight tie against Smith, with Guitler facing Chedid at the same time.

The top six seeds in the men's singles tournament have reached the quarter-finals as knockout ties began today.

World number one Apor Györgydeák of Romania won both sets 12-5 to progress against Algeria's Fethi Larit, while in the other half of the draw Hungary's world number two Ádám Blázsovics beat Cameroon's Gregory Tchami-Djomaha 12-1, 12-5.

France's Julien Grondin, seeded third, recorded a pair of 12-5, 12-5 win against Brazilian Lindoso to reach the last eight.

The world number five Adrian Duszak continues to head up Poland's hopes of a home success at FITEQ's World Championships as he beat Denmark's Brian Mengel Thomsen 12-7, 12-9.

However, a tough tie awaits tomorrow against the fifth seed Bogdan Marojević of Serbia, after two 12-5 victories against Bulgaria's Stoycho Zhekov.

Tunisia's sixth seed Yassine Sahli only progressed through Group F as runner-up, but set up a match against Blázsovics after he beat Group G winner Aitor Vives Yera of Spain 12-6, 12-1.

Unranked Ukrainian Oleh Usychenko also progressed in straight sets against Moldova's Valeriu Tiron to earn a quarter-final against Györgydeák, while American Luka Pilic was the day's other winner against Senegal's Mame Cheikh Fam, with Grondin up next for him.

In the women's doubles, Greco also had a successful day by booking her place in the women's doubles quarter-finals alongside Margaret Osmundson.

The pair are comfortably the top-ranked players at 13^th and 14^th in FITEQ's overall doubles rankings.

They won all four Group A matches in straight sets, including a 12-7, 12-6 triumph over Izsák and her partner Lea Vasas, who are seeded third in the women's doubles competition and progressed in second place.

Rafaella Gomes Fontes and Guitler of Brazil topped Group B after winning all four matches in straight sets, albeit the last of those against French second seeds Léa Hoffmann and Lauryne Scherrer came as their opponents withdrew due to an injury.

The day concluded with the men's doubles round of 16.

Top seeds Csaba Bányik and Blázsovics cruised through 12-2, 12-1 against Belgium's Jonathan Coquelle and Maxime Genin, with the US' Dennis Correia and Pilic - seeded second - triumphing 12-7, 12-3 over Moldova's Valentina Furdui and Valeriu Tiron.

The loudest cheers of the day came on table six, where Duszak and Bartlomiej Franczuk secured a notable 12-8, 12-6 victory for the hosts against Czech duo Lukas Flaks and Tomáš Macurek.

The pairs were respectively seeded sixth and seventh.

Action continues tomorrow with each of the five competitions at the quarter-final stage, with the men's and women's singles medallists to be decided in the evening.