KARACHI, Nov 5: Seeded stars moved ahead in the men’s singles facing no formidable challenge from their opponents in the 5th UBL Salma Noorani tennis tournament on Monday here at the Karachi Club hardcourts.

ABL’s newly crowned national grasscourt champion Asim Shafik, also a Federal Cup winner, thrashed Khalid Ali Nazar in straight sets after a first round bye in the 64-man draw.

Second seeded Davis Cupper Asim Shafik played skillfully to hit a brace of forehand winners for an impressive 6-1, 6-2 victory against Khalid Ali Nazar of Karachi.

Fourth seeded Davis Cupper Tahir Iftikhar inflicted a 6-3, 6-2 victory over Eyhab Burki in the first round and seventh seeded 42-year-old former Davis Cupper Rashid Malik eliminated Saeed Shahab 6-1, 6-0 to reach the second round.

Asad Ali Baghat came from behind to beat former national hard court champion and ex-Davis Cupper Altaf Hussain to move into the second round with 2-6, 6-3, 6-2 victory.

In a closely-fought encounter, a set down Muteeb Pasha staged a brilliant comeback for a 3-6, 7-5, 4-1 triumph against Munir Ashiq who threw in the towel in the last set in the junior (under-18) singles second round.

Tanvir Ashiq survived against Danish Ahmed before recording a 2-6, 7-5, 6-3 success.

RESULTS

Men’s singles (first round):

Aurangzeb bt Faisal Anwar 6-0, 6-0, Jalil Khan bt Yasir Khan 6-4, 6-4, Muneer Ashiq w/o Mohammad Syed, Akbar Pataudi bt Badar Saif 6-0, 6-1, Nomi Qamar w/o Kalim

Ghanchi, Shahid Khan w/o Sohail Raza, Waqeel Khan bt Farhan Bandukta 6-2, 6-0, Taimour Iftikhar bt M.Z. Khattak 6-1, 6-4, Khalid Ali Nazar bt Vinod Das 6-2, 6-3, Rashid Malik bt Saeed Shahab 6-1, 6-0, Asad Ali Bahagat bt Altaf Hussain 2-6, 6-3, 6-2, Tahir Iftikhar bt Eyhab Burki 6-3, 6-2, Shahzad Fazal bt Naveed Khan 6-2, 6-3 bt Ahmed Hussain bt Sakib Husain 6-2, 6-0, Adnan Khan w/o Aqeel Hussain, Amir Khan w/o Imran Ahmed, Ali Hasan Baghat w/o Haroon Ali, Inamullah bt Muteeb Pasha 7-6 (11-9), 6-1, Inam Gul bt Abdul Majeed 6-1, 6-1, Hasan Mahmood bt Fahad Anwar 6-2, 6-2, Mahir Waqar Nissar bt Sajid Husain 6-2, 6-2, M.Essa Jee bt Najam Hasan 7-5, 6-4, Mohammad Manzar w/o Mohammad Nadeem.

Second round: Shahid Khan bt Wakeel Khan 6-0, 6-1, Asim Shafik bt Khalid Ali Nazar 6-1, 6-2.

Junior (under-18) singles (second round): Shahzad Khan bt Najmul Hasan 6-1, 6-4, Mahir Nasir w/o Mohammad Khalid, Vinod Das bt Fahad Anwar 6-2, 7-6 (7-4), Inam Gul bt Naresh Das 6-1, 6-0, Muteeb Pasha bt Munir Ashiq 3-6, 7-5, 4-1 (retired).

Tuesday’s fixtures: Boys (under-14) singles (second round) at 2pm, men’s singles (third round) at 3pm, women’s singles (first round) at 5pm, men’s doubles (first round) at 5 pm.