Isaac captures second national snooker title

filed on Monday, May 25, 2015. 7:06pm PT/USA

Three years after he won his first title, Sargon Isaac has captured the 2015 United States National Snooker Championship with victory in the final over Ahmed Aly Elsayed at the Prince Snooker Club in Brooklyn, New York.

After winning that title back in 2012 at the Embassy Billiards Club in San Gabriel, California, he was then runner-up a year later, and twelve months ago he suffered a crushing 4-0 loss to Ajeya Prabhakar in the semifinals, so the 29-year-old will be incredibly happy this year to have his hands back on that Championship trophy.

The Californian had a very easy passage through the Championship until the concluding day of play, where he earlier had a mighty semifinal struggle with Raymond Fung to come out on top 4-3, and then had a tremendous battle with Aly in the final that went on late into the evening.

Photo © SnookerUSA.com The 2015 United States National Snooker Champion, Sargon Isaac

Aly, going for a fourth title after last winning it back in 2011, most certainly seemed up for the fight as in a very high-scoring first two frames, in which he produced breaks of 51 and 40 respectively, he took an early 2-0 advantage, and even though he also stroked in a run of 55 in frame three Isaac took it on the final black.

After a very high-quality first three frames, the match then proceeded to get a little scrappy as both players had to cope with their nerves and the huge build-up of tension.

Aly had his chances to go into the mid-session interval with a healthy 3-1 lead, however, for the second frame in succession, Isaac pinched it on the final black after holding himself together for a fine clearance.

The players resumed all-square at 2-2 with Isaac coming back the most confident to convincingly take the fifth frame for a 3-2 lead, but it was level again after frame six when playing for a snooker on the final pink ball Isaac inadvertently potted it.

The long Memorial Day Monday of playing intense matches was certainly taking its toll on both of the players, but Isaac proved to be the stronger on this occasion as he played the more positively to win the following two frames to seal the match and Championship with a 5-3 victory.

The Founder and Honorary Chairman of the United States Snooker Association, Michael Collins, provided and presented the players with their special 25th Anniversary Championship trophies.

Photo © SnookerUSA.com The Champion and runner-up pictured together after the final with their trophies

Both players have now gained automatic selection to represent the United States in the Men's Event of this year's International Billiards & Snooker Federation (IBSF) World Snooker Championships, which will take place in Cape Town, South Africa, from November 2-14 (TBC). The winner of this event will be awarded a two-year professional World Snooker Tour card from the 2016-17 season.

The USSA would like to give its thanks to everyone who made this Championship possible, especially to the players who came from all across the country, and to Mr. Tommy Chen and his wife Anita, who as ever have been marvelous and generous hosts and for their continued support toward snooker in the United States.

Confirmation of the final result and frame scores:



Final

(Best-of-9 frames) Match ID Player Player F Sargon Isaac (California) 3 5 - 3 Ahmed Aly Elsayed (New York) 4 Frame scores and 30+ breaks in brackets (Isaac's score stated first):

1st. 54(37)-82(51) 2nd. 52-83(40) 3rd. 68-61(55) 4th. 54-49 5th. 62-18 6th. 47-58

7th. 57-26 8th. 62-28

As the 2014-15 snooker season concludes in the United States, the USSA would also like to thank its sponsors, Saluc, who manufacture the Aramith Tournament Champion snooker balls, Sterling Gaming, the Tweeten Fibre Co., and to Ozone Billiards who have supported the association this season.