KARACHI, Jan 16: Davis Cupper Aqeel Khan starts as firm favourite when the Pakistan Open tennis championship gets into action at the CDGK Sports Complex on Wednesday. Aqeel has been top seeded in the men’s singles which have a draw of 32 men. He is followed by brother Jalil, Asim Shafik and Nomi Qamar.

Similarly, Sara Mansoor tops the seeding in ladies singles. Seher Khawaja is seeded second.

The qualifying rounds for the men’s singles that were supposed to be played on Tuesday were deferred until Wednesday. The organisers have received 40 entries in men’s singles and eight will be eliminated after qualifiers.

Twelve entries have been received in ladies singles sans Islamabad based Sarah Mahboob.

The draws of the six events are to be taken out in presence of players on Wednesday.

Wednesday’s fixtures:

Juniors U-17 9am; men’s singles 11am; boys U-15 2pm.