Vardhan's campaign ends in Tashkent Challenger

Indian Davis Cupper Vishnu Vardhan squandered a set lead to go down fighting against Denys Mulchanov of Ukraine in the pre-quarterfinals of the $125000 Tashkent Challenger on Wednesday.

Vardhan battled for two hours and 28 minutes before losing the thrilling singles encounter 6-7(4), 6-3, 7-5 to Mulchanov and crash out of the ATP tour event at the Olympic School Tennis courts.

The Ukraine's fighting spirit can be gauge from the fact that at one stage he was down 2-4 in the third set but made a remarkable comeback to secure his place in the quarter-finals of the tournament.

Curtains also came down on Vardhan's campaign in the doubles event as he and his partner Divij Sharan lost to third seeds John Paul Fruttero of USA and Raven Klaasen of South Africa in the quarter-finals .

Vardhan and Divij lost 5-7, 1-6 to their higher-ranked opponents in the last eight round.