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Mukund Sasikumar emerged as the lone Indian to progress into the quarterfinals, while teenage wild card Kriish Tyagi produced another spirited fight against third seed Hamish Stewart of Great Britain at the SM Krishna Memorial Open here on Wednesday.

The experienced Mukund held his nerve in key moments to overcome Japanese qualifier Taiyo Yamanaka 6-4, 7-6 (1) to enter the last eight stage while Kriish went down in three sets 6-4, 4-6, 3-6.

Mukund struck decisively in the 10th game of the opening set, breaking Yamanaka to pocket the set 6-4. The second set evolved into a tighter contest, with the Japanese player using his strong serve effectively and firing nine aces compared to Mukund’s six.

Yamanaka broke in the seventh game and appeared poised to force a decider, but Mukund showed remarkable resilience, saving a set point while trailing in the 10th game before breaking back and dragging the contest into a tiebreak. From there, the Indian dominated, conceding just one point to seal victory in one hour and 46 minutes.

Mukund’s consistency proved decisive, with the Indian committing 22 unforced errors against Yamanaka’s 31, underlining his ability to stay composed during longer rallies.

Mukund also is in contention in the doubles as he progressed to the quarterfinals alongside Adil Kalyanpur. The Indian duo registered a clinical 6-3, 7-5 victory over alternate pair Dominik Palan (Czech Republic) and Digvijaypratap Singh.

Meanwhile, wild card Kriish Tyagi once again demonstrated his growing credentials, stretching third seed Hamish Stewart before going down in a contest lasting over two hours. The Bengaluru lad had defeated Stewart in the quarterfinals of Karnataka Open last week, and the youngster looked set to repeat the feat after racing to an early advantage.

The Indian broke in the opening game of the first set and protected the lead to draw first blood. Kriish continued his aggressive approach in the second set, earning another early break in the third game to move ahead.

However, Stewart’s experience eventually surfaced. The Briton responded with breaks in the fourth and tenth games to level the match before taking control in the decider. Though Kriish again earned an early break in the third set, Stewart fought back with breaks in the sixth and eighth games to complete the turnaround.

Meanwhile, Sidharth Rawat’s campaign ended against sixth seed Ognjen Milic (Serbia), who recorded a 6-3, 6-1 win. Rawat had impressed in the opening round with his victory over Omar Jasika but was unable to maintain momentum against the Serbian.

The fairytale run of wild card Manish Sureshkumar, who stunned top seed and Karnataka Open champion Keegan Smith in the first round, also came to an end. The Indian struggled to find rhythm against former World No. 40 Ilya Ivashka, bowing out 1-6, 1-6.

Among other results, second seed Alastair Gray of Great Britain advanced past Dominik Palan, fourth seed Petr Bar Biryukov moved into the last eight, while Alex Hernandez (Mexico) and Mitsuki Wei Kang Leong (Malaysia) also progressed to the quarterfinals.

Results (Prefix indicated seeding)

Men’s Singles (Round of 16)

Mukund Sasikumar (IND) bt Q-Taiyo Yamanaka (JPN) 6-4, 7-6 (1);

2-Alastair Gray (GBR) bt Dominik Palan (CZE) 6-3, 7-6 (2);

Ilya Ivashka bt WC-Manish Sureshkumar (IND) 6-1, 6-1;

3-Hamish Stewart (GBR) bt WC-Kriish Tyagi (IND) 4-6, 6-4, 6-3;

Alex Hernandez (MEX) bt Q-Naoya Honda (JPN) 5-7, 7-5, 6-4;

Mitsuki Wei Kang Leong (MAS) bt Yusuke Takahashi (JPN) 6-3, 6-2;

6-Ognjen Milic (SRB) bt Sidharth Rawat (IND) 6-3, 6-1;

4-Petr Bar Biryukov bt Leo Vithoontien (JPN) 7-6 (4), 6-4;

Men’s Doubles (Round Of 16)

Jeffrey Chuan En Hsu (TPE) /  Christopher Papa (USA) bt Sai Karteek Reddy Ganta (IND)/ Yamato Sueoka (JPN) 6-3, 7-6 (4);

Adil Kalyanpur (IND) / Mukund Sasikumar (IND) bt Alt-Dominik Palan (CZE) / Digvijaypratap Singh (IND) 6-3, 7-5;

2-Charles Barry (IRL) /  Joshua Charlton (AUS) bt WC-Rethin Pranav Senthil Kumar (IND) / Kriish Tyagi (IND) 7-6 (8), 6-7 (5), 11-9;

4-Kokoro Isomura (JPN) / Ryuki Matsuda (JPN) bt WC-Parth Aggarwal (IND) / Aradhya Kshitij (IND) 6-2, 6-2;

Niki Kaliyanda Poonacha (IND) / Saketh Myneni (IND) bt Francis Casey Alcantara (PHI) / Maximus Jones (THA) 6-2, 6-3;

Tomohiro Masabayashi (JPN) / Leo Vithoontien (JPN) bt 1-S D Prajwal Dev (IND) / Nitin Kumar Sinha (IND) 6-3, 6-2;

Alex Hernandez (MEX) / Takuya Kumasaka (JPN) bt Alastair Gray (GBR) / Hamish Stewart (GBR) 3-4 (retd)

3-Sergey Betov / Jeevan Nedunchezhiyan (IND) bt Petr Bar Biryukov Grigoriy Lomakin (KAZ) 7-5, 6-3.