LAHORE - The 6th Shehryar Malik Memorial Pakistan Open Tennis Championship 2022 was formally inaugurated here at the Sports Board Punjab Tennis Academy, Nishtar Park Sports Complex on Monday. Secretary Sports and Youth Affairs Ehsan Bhutta graced the opening ceremony as chief guest and inaugurated the prestigious tournament during a colorful opening ceremony held here. The chief guest, who was introduced with all the participating players, appreciated the hard work of the players. PLTA Secretary Rashid Malik (Tamgh-e-Imtiaz) along with top national players and their families were also present on the occasion. Malik thanked Federal Minister for IPC Ehsan-ur-Rehman Mazari, Punjab Sports Minister Malik Taimoor Masood, Sports Board Punjab Vice Chairman Malik Nadeem Abbas Bara, Secretary Sports and Youth Affairs Ehsan Bhutta, Director General Sports Punjab Muhammad Tariq Qureshi and entire SBP management for this state-ofthe-art tennis facility, where the national players are vying for each other for national titles and also feeling great while playing at these internationalstandard tennis courts. The PLTA Secretary also thanked Metro Cash & Carry, TS Builders and Sheikhoo Steel for sponsoring the highest-prize money national tennis event and hoped that they will continue to support this beautiful game. On Monday, total 32 matches were played and all the top players advanced to the second round with comfortable victories. In the men’s singles first round matches, Asad Ullah beat Saif Ali 6-2, 5-7, 6-4, Ahmad Nael beat Ahmad Kamil 6-4, 6-2, Hasheesh Kumar beat Parbhat Kumar 6-3, 3-6, 6-2, Muzamil Murtaza beat Hamid Israr 6-1, 7-5, Faizan Fayyaz beat Israr Gul 6-2, 6-1. In other matches, Mahatir Muhammad beat Irfan Ullah 6-2, 6-3, Mudassar Murtaza beat Abdul Hanan 6-0, 6-3, Barkat Ullah beat Bilal Asim 6-3, 6-4, Semi Zeb beat Nalain 6-3, 6-2, Yousaf Khalil beat Hasam Khan 6-3, 6-3, Abdullah Adnan beat Heera Ashiq 5-7, 6-3, 2-0 (rtd), Ahmad Babar beat Uzair Khan 6-1, 6-2 and M Shoaib beat Saqib Hayat 6-1, 6-2.