Five Pak players reach Kanso Men Open pre-quarters

KARACHI: Pakistan’s Ahsan Ayaz, Asim Khan, Ashab Irfan, Huzaifa Ibrahim, and Abdul Malik moved into the pre-quarterfinals of the Kanso Men Open in the US on Thursday.

Ahsan defeated Salim Khan from the US 11-7, 11-6, 10-12, 11-7 in 50 minutes, Huzaifa thrashed Nicolas Serna from Colombia 11-8, 11-8, 11-5 in 23 minutes, and Abdul Malik beat Alfredo Lopez from Mexico 11-7, 11-7, 11-5 28 minutes in the first round.

However, wildcard entrant Rayyan Khan lost to Taylor Carrick from Bermuda 11-2, 11-4, 11-8 in 18 minutes while top seed Asim and third seed Ashab got byes in the first round. Now, Asim is to face Ahsan, Huzaifa will be up against Ashab, and Abdul Malik is drawn against fourth seed Veer Chotrani from India in the second round.