LAHORE, Jan 27: Twenty-six matches were decided in the first round of the 49th national badminton championship men’s singles event at the Iqbal Park Sports Complex on Friday.

Only four matches stretched to three games.

Irfan Afridi had a tough time in all three games to eventually emerge as winner beating Akram Masih.

The match lasted 70 minutes with the final score 15-13, 13-15, 15-13.

Mohammad Navid also went the full distance in beating Farhan Mohib 15-3, 12-15, 15-0. Pervaiz Akhtar Nabeel ousted Asif Hussain after losing the second game as the score was 17-16, 7-15, 15-3.

Waqas Zahid recovered to beat Zohaib 12-15, 15-11, 15-7. All seeded players had easy sailing to qualify for the second round.

Former national champion Tahir Ishaq outclassed Kashif Majeed 15-2, 15-4. Ali Yar Beg got better of Danish 15-3, 15-7.

Aamir Islam gave no respite to Abdul Islam 15-4, 15-9. Ashraf Masih, another international ousted Khalid Aziz 17-14, 15-12.

Results (men’s singles, first round):

Mushtaq bt Munir Akram 15-9, 15-13; Intikhab Akram bt Maqsood retired hurt in first game after trailing 11-7; Shabbar bt Aamir Hussain 15-1, 15-2; Imran Laeeq bt Gohar Ijaz 15-10, 15-7; Tahir Ishaq bt Kashif Majeed 15-2, 15-4; Mohammad Ijaz bt Omar Saleem 15-4, 15-3; Hayatullah bt Faisal Sarwar 15-13, 15-12; Waqas Zahid bt Zohaib 12-15, 15-11, 15-7; Harrison bt Arshad Khan 15-12, 15-3; Zafar Tasnim bt Mohammad Arshad 15-9, 15-7; Shahid bt Mohammad Akhtar 12-15, 15-4; Hashar Bashir bt Sajid 15-4, 15-5; Rizwan Rana bt Aliuz Zaman 15-3, 15-3; Ali Yar Beg bt Danish 15-3, 15-7; Imran Mohib bt Wasim Ismail 15-6, 15-3; Pervez Akhtar Nabeel bt Asif Hussain 17-16, 7- 15, 15-3; Aamir Islam bt Abdul Salam 15-4, 15-9; Kashif Raja bt Mohammad Shahzad 15-10, 15-2; Atif Nadeem bt Sabir Hanif 17-14, 15-11; Rizwan Aazam bt Ali Hafeez 15-4, 15-1; Ashraf Masih bt Khalid Aziz 17-14, 15-12; Faisal Afzal bt Irfan 15-1, 15-3; Atiq bt Zadan Ghazali 15-9, 15-3; Mohammad Ali bt Nadeem Javed 15-9, 15-10; Mohammad Naveed bt Farhan Mohib 15-3, 12-15, 15-0; Irfan Afridi bt Akram Masih 15-13, 13-15, 15-13.

Men’s doubles qualifying round (one game each): Rehan Bashir-Waqar Ahmed bt Safand-Ali 21-5; Ahmad Nazir-Zeeshan bt Tariq-Jamshed 21-15; Anjum Ali-Arshad Khan bt Abdullah- Basharat 21-18; Imtiaz Gull-Khawaja Iqbal bt Rasheed Wasti-Azhar Abbas 21-9; Muhammad Arshad-Zaheer Ahmed bt Khurshid Ali-Shahid Khan 21-5; Muhammad Nadeem-Muhammad Azmat bt M Nasir-Zeeshan 21-4; Arslan-Hafiz Irfan bt Sajid-Hood 12-2; Faraz-Muhammad Faizan bt Zahid Ali and partner 21-9; Kashif-Nabeel bt Nadeem-Fazal 17-3.