LAHORE - Top seeds advanced to the next round of the 3rd Nayza All Pakistan Tennis Championship 2018 after winning their respective matches in the men’s singles first round played here at the Punjab Lawn Tennis Association (PLTA) courts on Thursday.
PLTA Secretary General Rashid Malik (Tamgh-e-Imtiaz) inaugurated the championship while Pearl Continental General Manager Roy A Kappenberger, top Pakistan players, their families and tennis enthusiasts were also present on the occasion.
Pakistan longest serving No 1 tennis player Aqeel Khan took very little time to outclass Malik Bilal by 6-1, 6-1 while another seeded player Muhammad Abid played superbly against Farhan Ullah and thrashed him by 6-1, 6-0. Seasoned campaigner Heera Ashiq also took it very easy to outclass Hassan Riaz by 6-1, 6-2 while Muzamil Murtaza defeated Parbhat Kumar by 6-2, 6-4.
In other matches of the men’s singles first round, Ahmed Waqas rourted Ayyaz Khan 6-4, 6-1, Usman Rafique outlasted Izhar Iftikhar 6-1, 6-2, Malik Abdul Rehman overcame Kashan ul Haq 6-0, 3-0 (retired), Yousaf Khalil beat Omer Babar 7-6(3), 6-2, Muhammad Shoaib beat Israr Gul 6-4, 6-4, Ahmed Babar beat Abbas Khan 6-0, 6-3, Abdal Haider beat Ikram Ullah 6-2, 6-2, Barkat Ullah beat Zaryab Pirzada 6-1, 6-2, Ahmed Chaudhary beat Hammad Ahmed 6-0, 6-0, Waqas Malik beat Sikandat Hayat 6-2, 7-6(2), Asad ullah beat imrn bahtti 6-3, 6-4.
Today (Friday), the men’s single pre-quaterfinals will be contested at 9:30 am while the first round matches of the boys U-18 and boys U-14 will be played at 2:00 pm.