LAHORE: Thirteen matches were played on the opening day of the Sapphire Open National Tennis Champ­ionship here at the Punjab Tennis Academy, Bagh-e-Jinnah on Monday.

Top 16 men’s singles players, divided into four groups, are featuring in the group matches.

Group A consists of Aqeel Khan, Heera Ashiq, Ahmed Babar and Usman Rafiq, Group B comprises Muzammil Murtaza, Shahzad Khan, Ahmed Kamil and Huzaifa Abdul Rehman, Group C contains Mohammad Abid, Yousuf Khalil, Imran Bhatti and Hassan Riaz while Group D includes Shoaib Khan, Mudassar Murtaza, Ijaz Khan and Abdullah Adnan.

In the men’s singles Group A, Aqeel beat Ahmed 6-2, 6-4 and Heera Ashiq beat Usman Rafiq 6-1, 6-3. In Group B, Muzammil

defeated Ahmed Kamil 6-3, 6-2 and Huzaifa Abdul Rehman overcame Shahzad Khan 6-2, (retired) while in Group C, Mohammad Abid overpowered Imran Bhatti 6-2, 7-6(4) and Yousuf Khalil beat Hassan Riaz 6-2, 6-1 while Shoaib Khan beat Ijaz Khan 6-3, 6-2 and Mudassar Murtaza prevailed over Abdullah Adnan 6-1, 6-4 in Group D matches.

In the U-18 first-round matches, Nalain Abbas defeated Hamza Rehmat 6-1, 6-1, Bilal Asim downed Kamran Khan 5-7, 6-3, 6-2, Kashan Tariq outplayed Hasnain Yousuf 6-2, 6-2, Faizan Fayaz outclassed Huzaima Abdul Rahman 6-2, 6-3 and Ahtesham Arif beat Farman Shakeel 7-5, 3-1 as the latter retired.

Published in Dawn, October 12th, 2021