Mankad displayed brilliant strokeplay to overwhelm Udomchoke, ranked third in his country, 6-4, 6-3 in under 65 minutes to set up a quarterfinal clash with Vijay Kannan, who sent Sandeep Kirtane packing 6-3, 7-5.

Udomchoke, a semifinalist at the Mumbai and Bangalore Satellite Circuits, struggled throughout the match. He fumbled with his first serve and committed three double faults in the first set. On the other hand, 19-year-old Mankad served better and scored several down-the-line backhand winners.

Mankad broke Udomchoke in the second game to take a 3-0 lead. Another break in the sixth game gave Mankad a commanding position at 5-1. However, Udomchoke rallied back in the seventh and ninth games, but the Indian brokehim again in the 10th to take the set at 6-4.

The second set saw Udomchoke breaking Mankad in the first game. However, the Indian broke serve in the sixth and eighth games to win the set and the match 6-3.

An elated Mankad said: ``I am very happy. I played very well in this surface (clay) which is slow, and dictated throughout. Once 5-1 in the first set, I knew the match was mine.''

Mankad complimented the All-India Tennis Association (AITA), which provided him with a coach, Gajendra Singh, after the Mumbai leg of the Satellite series.

``You can judge from the performance of the six juniors who are under Gajendra Singh, here. It is a very positive approach,'' Mankad said.

``Nothing went right for me from the beginning,'' a disgusted Udomchoke said. ``I missed a number of easy points and also serves. My movement on clay court was also restricted as I am used to hard courts in my country.''

In the match between Kirtane and Vijay Kannan, an AITA product, Kirtane began well but crumbled against thenational junior champion's aggression to lose the first set at 3-6.

In the second, points moved neck and neck and both players traded breaks to tie at five-all. Kannan broke Kirtane in the 11th game with a cross-court smash and served out the match 7-5.

Earlier in another match, seventh-seed Partick Erhardt of Germany beat India's Vasudev Reddy 6-2 7-6.

In a first round match which was suspended due to poor light yesterday, Sanzaruz Zaman beat compatriot Vijendra Lad 6-2, 3-6, 6-4, to move into the pre-quarter finals.

RESULTS

Pre-quarterfinal: Vijay Kannan (Ind) bt Sandeep Kirtane (Ind) 6-3, 7-5; Patrick Erhardt (Ger) bt Vasudeva Reddy 6-2, 7-6 (14-12); Harsh Mankad (Ind) bt Danai Udomchoke (Thai) 6-4, 6-3; P Srinath (Ind) bt Saurav Panja (Ind) 6-2, 4-6, 4-2 (conceded); J Hede (Swe) bt Karagiannis (Greece) 3-6, 6-2, 6-4; G Fahlke (Ger) bt Zaman (Ind) 6-4, 4-6, 7-5; F Rovai (Swe) bt V Sridhar (Ind) 6-4, 6-2; Z Borockzy (Hungary) bt M Leysek (Slovakia) 6-2, 4-1 (conceded).