By Sohail Ali
LAHORE, Jan 27 (APP):Punjab Minister for Sports Rai Taimoor Khan Bhatti on Wednesday inaugurated the Sports Board Punjab (SBP) Open Tennis Championship 2021 during the colourful opening ceremony held here at the Punjab Tennis Academy, Bagh-e-Jinnah.
Besides the Punjab Sports Minister, other notables present on the occasion were Director General Sports Punjab Adnan, Arshad Aulakh, PLTA Secretary Rashid Malik (Tamgha-e-Imtiaz), SBP officials, players and their families and tennis enthusiasts.
A total of 19 matches were played on the second day of the mega event. In the men’s singles pre-quarterfinals, Ahmad Kamil beat Aakif Hussain 8-1, Hasheesh Kumar beat Muhammad Yousaf 8-1, Abdul Hanan Khan beat Hammad Ahmad 8-2, Hassan Riaz beat Ahtesham Arif 8-5, Mahatir Muhammad beat Zaryab Pirzada 8-1 and Shaeel Durab beat Faizan Fayyaz 9-7.
In U-18 pre-quarterfinals, Faizan Fayyaz beat Asad Akram 6-1, Shaeel Durab beat Muneeb Majeed 6-1, Mahatir Muhammad beat Moavia Butt 6-0, Ahtesham Arif beat Shehryar Anees 8-6, Abdul Hanan Khan beat Zaeem Ghafoor 6-1, Nalain Abbas beat Arman Kamran 8-3 and Hasheesh Kumar beat Ghazi Ahmad 8-1.
In U-14 first round, Harris Bajwa beat Talha Tarar 6-2, Haroon Arshad beat Xeerak Mustafa 6-1, Omer Jawad beat Amna Ali Qayyum 6-3, Aized Khalil beat Muneeb Akram 6-2 and Ameer Mazari beat Abdul Ahad 6-0. The quarterfinals of different categories will be played tomorrow (Thursday) here at the Punjab Tennis Academy Bagh-e-Jinnah while the finals will be played on Saturday (January 30).
