KARACHI, May 17: Top seed Sahibzada M. Ali advanced into last eight after brushing aside Amin Shafi in straight sets of boys’ under-14 singles on the opening day of second National Bank of Pakistan national juniors’ and seniors’ tennis championship at Karachi Gymkhana on Friday.

Ali shrugged off the challenge from his opponent chalking up an emphatic 6-1, 6-1 victory to reach quarters where he meets the winner of Arham Faheem and Atif Nawaz.

Joining him the last eight was third seed Zubair Raja who defeated Sohail Fayyaz by the identical margin of 6-1, 6-1.

Fourth seed Aqeel Shabbir and Hasan Vaqar also cruised into juniors’ under-18 singles quarters by getting the better of their respective opponents.

The former handed 6-1, 6-2 victory to Taimur Malik while the latter whipped Ebad Sarwar 6-0, 6-0.

Commissioner Karachi, Shoaib Ahmed Siddiqui, inaugurated the weeklong event and shook hands with some of the participants.

Speaking on the occasion, he said sports play vital role in bridging the gap and creating harmony among different sects of the society.

Recalling the role he had played towards staging numerous sporting events to commemorate the golden jubilee of the country in 1997, the commissioner said he would revive the same spirit soon.

Shoaib Siddiqui said the presence of youth at Karachi Gymkhana for competition is a healthy sign.

President of the Karachi Gymkhana, Homi Kambatta, president of the Sindh Tennis Association (STA), Saeed Hai and secretary STA, Fatima Raza, were prominent among others who were present on the occasion.

Results:
Juniors’ under-18 singles:

Qualifying round one:
Adnan Tufail bt Mazhar Hayat 6-1, 6-2; Daniyal Pasha bt Shahab Gul 6-3, 6-3.
First round:
Aqeel Shabbir bt Taimur Malik 6-1, 6-2; Hasan Vaqar bt Ebad Sarwar 6-0, 6-0.

Boys’ under-14 singles:
Qualifying round:
Asheesh bt Ali Chagani 6-1, 6-2.

First round:
Zubair Raja bt Sohail Fayyaz 6-1, 6-1; Sahibzada M. Ali bt Amin Shafi 6-1, 6-1.

Saturday’s fixtures:
Matches start at 11.00am.