KARACHI, Jan 23: Top seeds moved smoothly ahead on the third day of the 28th Red & White National snooker championship played on Thursday at the KPT Sports Complex.

Top seed Khurram Agha, had no difficulty in handing out a 4-0 defeat to Mohammad Hussain, helped on with a fluent break of 60 in the third frame.

Second seed Naveen Perwani, who survived a scare against Janan Khan in his first match, was in a much better frame of mind landing a 4-0 victory over Mustafa Hyder.

Third seed Saleh Mohammad sounded two quick breaks of 66 and 46, to push aside Punjab’s Abu Saim 4-1, who replied with breaks of 32 and 36.

The former world amateur champion and fourth seed Mohammad Yousuf was in sparkling form with a 4-0 triumph over Punjab’s Raees Khan which included a break of 88, the highest of the day and another 45 points on the trot in the second and third frames. Imran Shehzad who also had anxious moments in his opening match against unseeded Shah Khan from (NWFP), got down to brass tacks on day three and minced is opponent’s challenge with a 4-0 victory. The fifth seed’s campaign was made all the more easier being awarded the opening frame when his opponent arrived at the playing venue five minutes late.

Defending champion and sixth seed Farhan Mirza looked a picture of fitness in his 4-1 triumph over counterpart Nadeem Rashid which consisted of a break of 58 in the third frame.

Atiq Latif Bux playing attacking snooker cut down to size the much talked about Punjab youngster Imran Mughal 4-1, with fine breaks of 39 and 69 in the second and third frames. Although soundly beaten Imran displayed flashes of his talent chalking up 45 in the third frame which he pocketed.

Shakeel Bhatti another attacking cueist from Sindh scored his second successive success with a 4-1 drumming over Punjab Cup champion Mohammad Shahid.

Shah Khan the soft spoken bearded cueist from NWFP, after his 4-3 defeat at the hands of Imran Shehzad, when on the brink of victory on Wednesday, made amends by getting the better of Sindh’s Najmur Rehman 4-2, although the latter sounded a break of 43 in the third frame.

Also registering his second triumph in a row was the evergreen Mohammad Akhlas, who came through a 4-2 winner against NWFP’s Nauman Awan.

The former Pakistan No.2 Mohammad Shafiq, making his appearance in the rankings after a two year lapse, was once again in his strides when he cruised past Sindh’s Mohammad Baqar 4-0 with fluent breaks of 46 apiece in the third and fourth frames. In his opening match on Wednesday, Shafiq a little rusty, lost to seventh seed Atiq Latif Bux 4-1.

Dangerman Rambel Gul from the NWFP, after trailing 0-2 against Sindh’s Kashif Khan, finally got his act together picking up the next four frames to emerge a 4-2 winner.

Tthe results on the third day.

Imran Shehzad (Punjab) beat Mohammad Asif (Punjab) 4-0: 56/31, 39/31, 67/25. (First frame awarded in Imran’s favour). Farhan Mirza (Punjab) beat Nadeem Rashid (Punjab) 4-1: 77/21, 70/39, 63/18, 42/65, 55/19. Atiq Latif Bux (Sindh) beat Imran Mughal (Punjab) 4-1: 86/38, 79/6, 40/76, 75/17, 72/42. Shakeel Bhatti (Sindh) beat Mohammad Shahid (Punjab) 4-1: 71/20, 57/26, 26/49, 71/36, 68/63. Khurram Agha (Sindh) beat Mohammad Hussain (Balochistan) 4-0: 75/12, 66/29, 93/10, 70/10. Naveen Perwani (Sindh) beat Mustafa Hyder (Balochistan) 4-0: 60/35, 56/21, 79/34, 80/20. Saleh Mohammad (NWFP) beat Abu Saim (Punjab) 4-1: 56/47, 55/46, 70/45, 23/60, 75/8. Mohammad Yousuf (Sindh) beat Raees Khan (Punjab) 4-0: 72/28, 89/10, 80/7, 62/17. Shah Khan (NWFP) beat Najmur Rehman (Sindh) 4-2: 73/20, 53/30, 33/81, 56/24, 61/66, 59/33. Mohammad Akhlas (Sindh) beat Nauman Awan (NWFP) 4-2: 70/48, 64/44, 39/69, 40/62, 60/40, 69/37. Mohammad Shafiq (NWFP) beat Mohammad Baqar (Sindh) 4-0: 66/27, 58/18, 65/53, 68/12. Rambel Gul (NWFP) beat Kashif Khan (Sindh) 4-2: 27/51, 3/67, 68/29, 74/17, 73/2, 78/30. Yousuf Haroon (Sindh) beat Zafran (Balochistan) 4-0: 51/13, 62/15, 65/24, 57/24. Mukhtar Khan (Sindh) beat Yousuf Khan (NWFP) 4-1: 62/67, 81/1, 80/58, 52/43, 65/45. Arshad Siddiq (Balochistan) beat Faroukh Osman (Sindh) 4-3: 35/64, 64/34, 23/667, 59/41, 2/61, 66/28, 65/38. Masood Ahmed (Sindh) beat Janan Khan 4-2.