LAHORE – The 6th Shehryar Malik Memorial Pakistan Open Tennis Championship 2022 was formally inaugurated at the Sports Board Punjab Tennis Academy, Nishtar Park Lahore on Monday.
Secretary Sports and Youth Affairs Ehsan Bhutta graced the opening ceremony as chief guest and inaugurated the prestigious tournament during a colorful opening ceremony held here. The Secretary Sports was introduced with all the participating players, while he also witnessed a men’s singles match and applauded both the players for showcasing their skills during the match.
Ehsan Bhutta met with all the players and appreciated the hard work of the players. PLTA Secretary Rashid Malik (Tamgh-e-Imtiaz) along with top national players and their families were also present on the occasion. PLTA Secretary Rashid Malik thanked Secretary Sports and Youth Affairs Ehsan Bhutta for sparing time to encourage tennis players especially the junior ones and assuring them of his all-out support in their future endevours.
Malik also thanked Federal Minister for IPC Ehsan-ur-Rehman Mazari, Punjab Sports Minister Malik Taimoor Masood, Sports Board Punjab Vice Chairman Malik Nadeem Abbas Bara, Director General Sports Punjab Muhammad Tariq Qureshi and entire SBP management for this state-of-the-art tennis facility, where the national players are vying for each other for national titles while they are also feeling great while playing at these international-standard tennis courts. The PLTA Secretary also thanked Metro Cash & Carry, TS Builders and Sheikhoo Steel for sponsoring the highest-prize money national tennis event and hoped that they will continue to support this beautiful game.
Meanwhile on Monday, total 32 matches were played and all the top players advanced to the second round with comfortable victories after displaying high-quality tennis skills and techniques. In the men’s singles first round matches, Asad Ullah beat Saif Ali 6-2, 5-7, 6-4, Ahmad Nael beat Ahmad Kamil 6-4, 6-2, Hasheesh Kumar beat Parbhat Kumar 6-3, 3-6, 6-2, Muzamil Murtaza beat Hamid Israr 6-1, 7-5, Faizan Fayyaz beat Israr Gul 6-2, 6-1.
In other men’s singles first round matches, Mahatir Muhammad beat Irfan Ullah 6-2, 6-3, Mudassar Murtaza beat Abdul Hanan Khan 6-0, 6-3, Barkat Ullah beat Bilal Asim 6-3, 6-4, Semi Zeb Khan beat Nalain Abbas 6-3, 6-2, Yousaf Khalil beat Hasam Khan 6-3, 6-3, Abdullah Adnan beat Heera Ashiq 5-7, 6-3, 2-0 (rtd), Ahmad Babar beat Uzair Khan 6-1, 6-2 and M Shoaib beat Saqib Hayat 6-1, 6-2.
