Saha upsets third seed Monteiro

National champion Subhajit Saha scripted a major upset, shocking third seed Thiago Monteiro of Brazil to advance to the quarter-finals of the inaugural Indian Open table tennis championships.

The Bengal paddler dropped the first game but then fired his way to a brilliant 3-11, 11-9, 11-8, 12-10, 11-4 victory over the World No 94 at the Indira Gandhi Indoor stadium in Delhi.

In the women's section, three Indians -- Nandita Saha, Poulomi Ghatak and national champion Mouma Das -- moved into the quarter-finals at the expense of their compatriots.

Saha set up a clash with Soumyadeep Roy on Saturday, assuring India of at least one semi-final berth in the US $25,000 prize-money ITTF Pro Tour event.

The seasoned Roy prevailed over the promising young paddler Amal Raj 20-18, 11-9, 11-6, 11-8.

Qualifier Raj, who upset Tse Ka Chun of Hong Kong in a nerve-wracking first round tie, gave a scare to Roy in the first game but then faded away.

Fifth seed and India's best bet Achanta Sharath Kamal trounced Afshin Nourozi of Iran 11-8, 14-12, 11-5, 7-11, 11-4 to set up a quarter-final clash with Yang Zi of Singapore.

Sharath will draw inspiration from his famous victory against the world No. 45 in the team event of the Commonwealth Games where India shocked Singapore to claim the gold.