Bangalore, June 14: Hard-serving qualifier, Alexei Gavrilov of Russia sent India's Sandeep Kirtane, seeded No. 7 and the winner of the first leg in Mumbai last week, scrambling out of the McDowell-ITF Satellite (second leg) Tennis Tournament with a 6-1, 6-1 hiding in the men's singles pre-quarterfinals at the KSLTA Stadium on Wednesday.Ramaswamy appeared quite relieved following his 7-5, 7-6 (7-3) victory that hoisted him into the quarter-finals, where he faces third-seeded countryman Vishal Uppal.Uppal dissected Saurav Panja in a little over an hour for a 7-6 (7-4), 6-2 victory.``It was a tough match. There was just a single break of serve and I am happy to have got through,'' said Ramaswamy mopping up the sweat of his brow.``My strategy was to play my strokes hard and mount pressure on Fulcher,'' said Ramaswamy, who is playing his first Satellite tournament.Fulcher did buckle under pressure in the 11th game of the first set, committing a slew of unforced errors. Ramaswamy broke the Brit for a 6-5 lead and then served out for the set.Ramaswamy was up by a break-point in the eighth game of the second set, but blew it up with a gory backhand that fell into the net. Fulcher then held serve to make it 5-5.In the tie-breaker that followed, Fulcher was mired in problems - comprehensively beaten twice by Ramaswamy's passing shots. He then tried to counter a charging Ramaswamy with the lob but came a cropper again. He was so exasperated after he bungled that shot that he kicked his racket in a fit of rage and promptly picked up a warning from the umpire.Ramaswamy, the No. 3 player for the Louisiana State University in the US, went on to win the tie-break 7-3 and with it the match.Top seed Danai Udomchoke of Thailand beat countryman Pracharpol Khamsamarn in a match without an umpire 6-1, 6-2 to book his place in the quarter-finals.Joining the Thai in the quarters were second-seeded Swede Per Thornadtsson, fourth-seeded Harsh Mankad, Vinod Sridhar and Marian Leysek (Slovakia).Thornadtsson beat Vijay Kannan 6-4, 6-1; Harsh Mankad wore down Mustafa Ghouse 6-3, 4-6, 6-3; Vinod Sridhar scalped Swede Patril Stalbark 6-4, 6-3 and Leysek blanked Alok Bhide 6-0, 6-0.Results (prefix denotes seeding; belong to India unless mentioned)Men's singles (pre-quarterfinals): 2-Per Thornadtsson (Swe) bt Vijay Kannan 6-4, 6-1; Alexei Gavrilov (Rus) bt 7-Sandeep Kirtane 6-1, 6-1; Ajay Ramaswamy bt 5-Barry Fulcher (Brit) 7-5, 7-6 (7-3); Vinod Sridhar bt Patril Stalbark (Swe) 6-4, 6-3; 4-Harsh Mankad bt Mustafa Ghouse 6-3, 4-6, 6-3; Danai Udomchoke (Thai) bt Pracharpol Khamsamarn 6-1, 6-2; Marian Leysek (Svk) bt Alok Bhide 6-0, 6-0; Vishal Uppal bt Saurav Panja 7-6 (7-4), 6-2.Quarterfinal line-up: Uppal vs Ramaswamy; Udomchoke vs Sridhar; Thornadtsson vs Leysek; Mankad vs GavrilovMen's doubles: Gavrilov & Sikanov (Rus) bt Kamala Kannan & Akshay Rao 6-4, 6-2.
