KARACHI, Nov 17: Veteran Rashid Malik is the only outstation Davis Cupper who has entered the Pakistan-ITF seniors’ world ranking tennis championship which commenced at the Karachi Gymkhana courts on Sunday.

Seeded on top in the 45 singles, Rashid has got a bye in the first round and if all goes accordingly, he is drawn to meet second seed Imran Ahmed in the title clash on Nov 22. He is due to arrive here from Lahore on Monday to open his campaign.

Mohammad Manzar, meanwhile, heads the seeding in the 16-man 35 singles draw. He has also got a bye in the first round and will come across Farzan Haleem in the last eight fixture. The latter has got a walkover against M. Ishtiaq Ali on the opening day.

In the two other 35 singles matches, M. Abdul Saeed had a 6-1, 6-0 short work against Mohammad Javed while Aly Panju was home 6-3, 6-0 against Salman Butt.

Shehzad Akhter Alvi, an ITF White Badge referee, who arrived here from Islamabad on Saturday, took out the 35 and 45 singles draws at the venue. The draws of 55 singles, 45 and 55 doubles will be taken out on Monday.

Results:

35 singles:

First round: M. Abdul Saeed bt Mohammad Javed (Quetta) 6-1, 6-0; Farzan Haleem bt M. Ali Ishtiaq (walkover); Aly Panju bt Salman Butt 6-3, 6-0.

Monday’s fixtures: Matches starts at 5.00pm.—Sports Correspondent