If Sharath disposed of Niwa 8-11, 11-9, 11-8, 14-12, 11-9 rather easily, the passage of Sathiyan saw a roller-coaster ride before the Indian prevailed over Oshima 6-11, 11-5, 2-11, 12-10, 10-12, 11-4, 11-8 in a tension-ridden Round of 32.
The match between Sathiyan and Oshima had several Indian expats on the edge of their seats and, in fact, their support endeared him to put up a spirited fight against the 15th seed Japanese .
His next outing in round of 16 will be much tougher he takes on the Japanese child prodigy Tomokazu Harimato, who needs no introduction to his Indian fans.
For Sharath, who did not have a good track record against Koki Nowa, the win looked rather sweet as he was down in most games. Yet, Sharath was impressive throughout and his experience came to the fore when he caused one of the biggest upsets in the championships with his strong backhand fetching him good results.
In the next round late evening today, Sharath will take on Jonathan Groth of Denmark.
The two Indians also combined well to enter men's doubles quarterfinals before bowing out 12-10, 10-12, 1-11, 10-12 to the top-seeded Chinese pair of Fang Bo and Lin Gaoyuan.