March 20, 2008	Thursday	Rabi-ul-Awwal 11, 1429

KARACHI, March 19: Top four seeds have maintained a clean slate so far at the completion of third round of league matches in the 33rd National snooker championship at the Karachi Gymkhana on Wednesday.

Top seed Saleh Mohammad registered his third straight win when he comfortably downed Sindh’s Salman Shaikh 71-7, 46-36, 69-26, 68-53 in Group ‘A’.

In Group ‘B’, second seed Imran Shahzad overcame a stiff challenge from Balochistan’s Kamran Shah to post a 4-3 victory. Imran, the losing finalist of the country’s premier championship two years back, was home 29-56, 93-2, 9-66, 44-70, 65-13, 66-7, 91-1. His score include four solid breaks of 75, 44, 53 and 65 in second, fifth, sixth and seventh frames.

Veteran cueist and third seed Mohammad Yousuf also enhanced his chances to top Group ‘C’ with an emphatic 4-1 victory over NWFP’s Arshad Siddiq. He dropped the opener 34-55 only to recover and claim the following frames 62-45, 68-35, 61-24, 73-6.

Fourth seed Khurram Agha, 31, who claimed his maiden national crown in 2006, demolished Punjab’s Ali Shahzad Butt 61-51, 100-55, 64-52, 74-9 in Group ‘D’.

Defending champion and fifth seed Naveen Perwani, who went down to Punjab’s Mohammad Sajjad 2-4 in the earlier match, was back in form when he got the better of Punjab’s Mohammad Imran 4-0.

Islamabad-based sixth seed Shehram Changezi who had a dismal run chalked up his first win in three matches beating Balochistan’s Mohammad Ali 91-7, 64-27, 68-50, 73-1.Abu Saim and Imtiaz Sarwer, the seventh and eighth seed from Punjab, are also unbeaten.

Results:

Saleh Mohammad (NWFP) bt Salman Shaikh (Sindh) 4-0 (71-7, 46-36, 69-26, 68-53); Imran Shahzad (Punjab) bt Kamran Shah (Balochistan) 4-3 (29-56, 93-2, 9-66, 44-70, 65-13, 66-7, 91-1); Mohammad Yousuf (Sindh)

bt Arshad Siddiq (NWFP) 4-1 (34-55, 62-45, 68-35, 61-24, 73-6); Khurram Agha (Sindh) bt Ali Shahzad Butt (Punjab) 4-0 (61-51, 100-55, 64-52, 74-9); Naven Perwani (Sindh) bt Mohammad Imran (Punjab) 4-0 (91-12, 67-23, 57-6, 82-17); Shehram Changezi (Punjab) bt Mohammad Ali (Balochistan) 4-0 (91-7, 64-27, 68-50, 73-1); Abu Saim (Punjab) bt Sharjeel Mahmood (NWFP) 4-1 (12-84, 64-25, 60-22, 81-17, 95-17); Imtiaz Sarwer (Punjab) bt Mohammad Asif (Punjab) 4-2 (46-73, 62-43, 67-41, 66-37, 46-66, 80-48); Mohammad Sajjad (Punjab) bt Shah Khan (NWFP) 4-1 (58-29, 31-70, 62-57, 82-0, 73-31); Abdul Sattar (Sindh) bt Imran Qamar (Punjab) 4-1 (59-37, 58-48, 61-44, 64-77, 55-27); Ayaz Khan (Punjab) bt Abdul Samad (Sindh) 4-1 (64-53, 56-32, 45-69, 59-38, 68-50); Mohammad Afzal (Punjab) bt Mohammad Aqeel (NWFP) 4-3 (11-72, 71-10, 25-61, 64-19, 21-63, 68-8, 78-24); Mohammad Asif Toba (Punjab) bt Mudassir (NWFP) 4-0 (54-28, 67-19, 77-46, 60-9).

Thursday’s fixtures:

Mohammad Riaz v Mohammad Imran, Vishan Gir v Mohammad Ali, Raees Khan v Sharjeel Mahmood, Mohammad Nazeer v Mohammad Asif at 10.00am; Rambel Gul v Salman Shaikh, Mohammad Shahid v Kamran Shah, Sohail Shehzad v Arshad Siddiq, Atif Mughal v Ali Shahzad Butt at 12.00noon; Naveen Perwani v Abdul Rauf Kurd, Shehram Changezi v Nouman Awan, Abu saim v Farhan Noor, Imtiaz Sarwer v Javed Ansari at 2.00pm; Saleh Mohammad v Ali Daryab, Imran Shahzad v Inamur Rehman, Mohammad Yousuf v Saqib Butt, Khurram Agha v Qasim Kamani at 4.00pm.