Lahore - All the seeded players moved into the second round of the 3rd EBM Pakistan Tennis Championship 2018 here at the Punjab Lawn Tennis Academy (PLTA) courts on Monday.
Former Davis Cupper and Captain Rashid Malik (Sitara-e-Imtiaz) and Pakistan No 1 tennis player Aqeel Khan inaugurated the championship, which was participated by a great number of players, their families and tennis lovers. PLTA Secretary Rashid Malik thanked EBM chairman Khawar Masood Butt for promoting tennis in Pakistan.
All the top seeded players had easy sailings to the next round after winning their respective matches in the men’s singles first round. Longest serving number one player and top seed Aqeel Khan thrashed Ahmad Baber by 6-1, 6-2. Aqeel won the first set with utmost ease 6-1 while in the second set, he conceded just two points to register a convincing victory.
In other matches of the men’s singles first round, Muhammad Abid faced some resistance from Huzaifa Abdul Rehman before winning the encounter 6-4, 6-0, Heera Ashiq outclassed Haasan Riaz 6-1, 6-1, Barkat Ullah defeated Ahmad Kamil 6-3, 6-4, Aqib Hayyat tamed Fayyaz Khan 6-4, 1-0 (retired), M Shoaib Khan routed Faizan Khurram 6-1, 6-3, Muzamil Murtaza outlasted M Waqas Malik 6-2, 6-0.
Ejaz Ahmad Khan defeated Ahmad Waqas 6-2, 6-0, Yousaf Khalil outpaced Asad Ullah 6-3, 6-2, Abdullah Adnan toppled Zeeshan Ashraf 6-0, 6-2, Mudassar Murtaza edged out Usman Rafique 6-0, 6-3 and Saqib Hayyat had to struggle hard to down spirited Mian Bilal in a closely-contested three-setter game by 1-6, 6-2, 7-6(5). The second round matches of the men’s singles will start today (Tuesday) here at the PLTA tennis courts at 9:30 pm.