LAHORE – The grand inauguration of the Sheikhoo Steel Pakistan Open Tennis Championship 2023 took place on Sunday here at the Sports Board Punjab Tennis Academy in Nishtar Park. 

Mr. Shahid Zaman, Secretary of Sports & Youth Affairs Punjab, and Mr. Junaid Naveed, GM Marketing of Sheikhoo Steel, graced the opening ceremony as chief guests. They formally inaugurated the championship in a colorful ceremony. The honorable chief guests were introduced to all the participating players and had the opportunity to witness an exciting men’s singles match. 

On the first day of the championship, more than 40 matches were played, with all the top players securing com­fortable wins. Spectators were treated to a high standard of tennis during several of these matches. Mr. Zaman and Mr. Naveed took the time to meet and commend the dedication and hard work of all the players. In attendance at the event were Rashid Malik (Tamgh-e- Imtiaz), the PLTA Secretary, along with top national players and their families. 

Expressing his thoughts on the occa­sion, Secretary Sports Shahid Zaman said, “We have not only established state-of-the-art infrastructure across Punjab but also shared the year-long sports calendar under which healthy and fruitful sports activities will be conducted throughout the year.” 

He further added, “I would also like to appreciate the passion and dedication of Mr. Rashid Malik, one of the great sports organizers in the country, who has honour of holding a record number of tennis tour­naments for many years. He has been orga­nizing back-to-back tennis tournaments at SBP Tennis Academy under the auspices of Sports Baord Punjab, with more to follow, including the ITF Senior Masters next year.” 

In the men’s singles 1st round matches held on Sunday, Hasheesh Kumar de­feated Yasir Khan 6-1, 6-1, Shehzad Khan triumphed over Sikandar Hayat 6-0, 6-2, Ahmad Nael Qureshi beat Semi Zain Khan 6-2, 6-3, M Abid thumped Faizan Fayyaz 6-1, 6-1, Hamid Israr triumphed over M Hamza Asim 6-1, 2-6, 6-3, Ahmad Ch se­cured a victory against Waleed Humayun 6-1, 6-1, Heera Ashiq beat Baqir Ali 6-2, 6-4, Abdullah Adnan defeated M Talha Khan 6-2, 6-3, M Salaar beat M Huzaifa Khan 6-2, 7-5, Yousaf Khalil defeated Is­rar Gul 6-3, 6-3, Mudassar Murtaza beat Abdaal Haider 6-2, 6-2, Uzair Khan edged out Imran Bhatti 6-2, 7-5 and M Shoaib defeated Ahmad Babar 6-2, 6-3. 

In the boys U-18 1st round matches, Bilal Asim trounced Hamza Jawad 6-0, 6-1, Ahtesham Humayun routed Yafat Nadeem 6-3, 7-5, M Rehan defeated Ali Raza Khan 6-1, 6-0, Asad Zaman beat Hassan Raza Khan 6-0, 6-0, Shehryar Anees thumped Taimmor Ansari 6-1, 6-1, Shahsawar Khan defeated Inam Qadir 6-1, 6-1, Saif Ullah toppled Jawad Khan 6-1, 6-1, Hamid Israr defeated Uzair Khan 6-3, 6-4, Mustansir Ali Khan beat Aoun Raza 6-0, 6-0. 

In the boys U-14 1st round matches, Zohaib Afzal Malik defeated Anis Khan 6-0, 6-0, Hamza Ali Rizwan thrashed M Rehan 4-0, 4-0 and Haziq Areejo defeat­ed Abdul Malik 4-0, 4-1.