KARACHI, Dec 15: Fourteen-year old Amna Hameed, who resides in Sussex, England, got off to a splendid start in the Salma Noorani Karachi Club tennis championship brushing aside the challenge of Tayyaba 6-0, 6-0 , on the hard courts of the Karachi Club.

Playing some forceful shots, Amna never gave her hapless opponent a ghost of a chance. Joining her in the next round was top seed Nida Rahim, who also handed out a 6-0, 6-0 defeat to Bushra, and Nida's twin Maria, who also had no difficulty in disposing of Sanam Mughal.

In the men's singles all the top seeds advanced hardly raising a sweat. Top seed Aqeel Khan handed out a 6-1, 6-1 drubbing to junior No. 2 Tanvir Ashiq. Second seed Nomi Qamar forced Hassan Mehmood to make his exit 6-4, 6-0 while third seed Asim Shafiq put out the Adnan Khan 6-2, 6-2.

Fifth seed Wasif Cheema beat his doubles partner Mehmood Khan 6-1, 7-6 (7-4). Jalil Khan had to bring out his best in finally overcoming the likes of Khalid Ali Nazar 6-2, 4-6, 6-3 and Shehzad Khan booked his place amongst the last eight, with a 6-3, 6-4 victory over Kamran Khalil.

In the juniors singles, top seed Omer Baber had to work very hard in getting the better of Tanvir Munir 6-3, 6-3. In the boys under-13 event, second seed Ghulam Abbas Panju crushed Mustafa Jamali 6-0, 6-0. Joining Ghulam in the next round was Sunny Williams, who had a struggle on his hands before he got the better of Zarrukh Baig 6-4, 6-4.

The same could be said about Zain Salim Maniya, who beat Omer Shahid 6-4, 7-5 and Heera Ashiq who finally prevailed over Farhan Altaf 6-2, 6-3. Un seeded Saad Baloch and Rafi Darbari were in a fine frame of mind, while disposing of sixth seeds Roman Gul and Irfanullah 6-4, 6-4 in the men's doubles.

Wasim Cheema joining up with his partner Mehmood Khan, beat off the fighting combination of Usman Ejaz and Gul Hameed 6-3, 6-4. In a very interesting match that went to wire, Shahid Afridi and Inam Gul beat Khurram Nazir and M. Babar 6-3, 3-6, 7-5.

Second seeds M. Shafiq and Nomi Qamar also had to work up a sweat in getting the better of Yasir Khan and Ali Hasan 6-3, 7-5. In two other matches played, Gul Hamad and Usman beat Waqeel Khan and Majeed 6-0, 6-4 and Asim Shafiq and Shahzad Khan also booked their berths in the next round with a 6-2, 6-2 triumph over Abdullah Sheikh and Tanveer Munir.

RESULTS.