KARACHI, July 23: Top seeds eased into the men’s singles next round by chalking up straight victories over their respective opponents on the opening day of Arif Habib Tennis Championship at the Karachi Club on Sunday.

Three times winner and top seed Aqeel Khan conceded two points on his way to register 6-1, 6-1 win against Arif Bangash.

Similarly, second seed Asim Shafik got the better of S. M. Abbas 6-1, 6-2 while third seed Nomi Qamar outplayed Abid Ali 6-2, 6-2.

Meanwhile, the organisers have decided to induct Naz Samad Khan, Komal and Sana Bhagat to make a draw of eight for ladies singles.

They are considering to reduce the ladies singles prize money in view of poor response from the leading players of the country.

Results: Men’s singles (first round):

Aqeel Khan bt Arif Bangash 6-1, 6-1; Ali Abdullah bt Mustafa Jamal 6-3, 6-2, Nomi Qamar bt Abid Ali 6-2, 6-2; Shabbir Gul bt Nasir Mushtaq 3-6, 7-5, 6-2; Sheryar Wali bt Imran Shaukat 6-1, 6-1; Munir Ashiq bt Ahsan Bajwa 6-1, 6-2; Inam Gul bt Ahmed Aslam 6-3, 6-2; Asim Shafik bt S. M. Abbas 6-1, 6-2; Shahid Afridi bt Abdul Majeed 7-5, 6-0; Yasir Khan bt Hameed Gul 6-1, 6-1; Mohammad Manzer bt Sheryar Niazi 6-3, 6-2; Hasan Mahmood bt Zain Mohammad 6-1, 6-2; Khalid Ali Nazar w/o Taimoor Iftikhar; Rafiq Darbari w/o Mohammad Shafiq; Saad Balouch bt M. Zaid Noor 6-3, 6-3.