KARACHI, Oct 12 Unseeded Mohammad Manzer pulled off a major upset when he knocked top seed Ejaz Sarhadi out of the 35 plus singles pre quarter-finals in the 13th Pakistan International Seniors Tennis Championship which commenced at Karachi Gymkhana synthetic courts on Monday evening.

Manzer was home 6-4, 6-4 to cruise into last eight after the two players got a first round bye.

He is drawn to meet Azharuddin, who accounted for Mohammad Hanif Memon 6-3, 6-1 in the other match.

Arif Iftikhar, a former Davis Cup player and second seed, also surged into the last eight edging past Ali Sawani 6-1, 6-2 in convincing fashion.

Defending champion Mohammad Abdul Saeed also earned a berth in the last eight when he notched up straight 6-1, 6-3 victory over unseeded Reasat on the second day.

Meanwhile, in a late development, the Ministry of Interior granted 15-days visas to five Indians on Monday coinciding with the commencement of the event.

Those granted visas include Penumatsa Ramachanachan Dra Raju, Gurnaney Radhakishan, Vyas Rahul Chandreshbhi, Anne Ratnakara Rao and Murthi Suresh, says a communication issued by issued by Ministry of Interior copy of which was forwarded to Pakistan High Commission, New Delhi.

“It's an exercise in futility as we have held the draws on Sunday and they can't be changed,” a spokesman for the Pakistan Seniors Tennis Association (PSTA) told Dawn on Tuesday.

He added that all the five Indian veteran players were eager to come and feature in the contest aimed at to secure points and improve their international rankings.

Results

35 plus singles

First round Ali Panju bt Suhail Farid 6-1, 6-0; Mohammad Abdul Saeed bt Mubarak Shah (walkover); Imran Abou Baker bt Salman Maniya 6-4, 5-7, 7-6.

Pre quarter-finals Mohammad Manzer bt Ejaz Sarhadi 6-4, 6-4; Azharuddin bt Mohammad Hanif Memon 6-3, 6-1; Arif Iftikhar bt Ali Sawani 6-1, 6-2; Mohammad Abdul Saeed bt Reasat 6-1, 6-3.

Wednesday's fixtures

Matches starts at 6.00pm.