Malik, Ranjeet, Balaji in quarters of ITF Futures

Chennai: At least five Indians, including top seed Vijayant Malik, sailed into the quarter-finals of the men`s singles event of the ITF Futures tournament, here on Wednesday.

Malik downed compatriot Ronak Manuja 7-5 6-3 to progress to the last-eight stage but last week`s winner and fourth seed Jeevan Nedunchezhiyan exited after losing 5-7, 2-6 to his Dutch opponent Mark Vervoort. Also advancing was fifth seed Sriram Balaji, who overcame a fighting Ajai Selvaraj 6-2, 7-6 (2) in his second round clash. Sixth seed Vijay Sundar Prashanth beat Austria`s Peter Goldsteiner 6-4, 6-2 while third seed Ranjeet Virali Murugesan had an easy outing as he thrashed compatriot Saurabh Patil 6-3, 6-1. Ashwin Vijayragavan, served strongly to get the better of Gaetan De Lovinfosse 6-4, 7-6 (3). PTI