The new California Snooker Academy in San Jose has played host to Event 11 of the 2015-16 United States Snooker Association (USSA) Tour, sponsored by Aramith Billiard Balls, Sterling Gaming and the Tweeten Fibre Co., with the twice former United States National Snooker Champion, Ajeya Prabhakar, pocketing the title.

The Academy is the brainchild of San Jose residents Prabhaker and his partner Sam McGrath, a huge snooker enthusiast originally from England, with the goal to further promote and develop the sport in California, and an emphasis on providing the best playing conditions possible and also to be used as a coaching facility.

It is a private Club and Academy with three full-sized 6ft x 12ft snooker tables, and is located at 338 Lincoln Avenue. In the spirit of its Silicon Valley location, the Academy has integrated a state of the art high-tech touch screen system which allows members to come by and practice any time they please, 24 hours a day.

There are different membership options, ranging from pay by the hour, to full time memberships. Each member who signs up will get their own unique access code to the facility.

Also competing in the Tour event was the reigning United States National Snooker Champion, Sargon Isaac, who will be in the hunt to defend his title once this year's Championship gets underway at the 147 Snooker Club in Houston, Texas, from May 27-30.

Both Isaac and Prabhakar advanced directly into the semifinals after winning their groups, and they faced Jeff Szafransky and Avinash Pandey respectively who had to come through the quarterfinal route after group play.

Szafransky ran the National Champion very close in the semifinals only to lose out 3-2, while Prabhakar compiled a break of 52 along the way to a much more comfortable 3-1 defeat of Pandey.

Twelve months ago Prabhakar, who was then the reigning United States National Snooker Champion, beat Isaac in the final of a Tour event in San Mateo, California, but Prabhakar's victory on this occasion was less satisfactory as after producing runs of 73 and 38 and holding a 2-1 advantage, Isaac then was forced to retire in the fourth frame due to not feeling well.

Prabhakar, who also serves as the current president of the USSA, commented that it was unfortunate that Sargon had to retire as it would have been a good win, but he and Sam were very proud of the way the tournament went over the two days and are both looking forward to their fully functioning grand opening this coming weekend.

"We are thrilled to have had the opportunity to host this USSA tour event," said McGrath. "Several players from out of town traveled a long way to play here, and they really enjoyed the event and the unique club setup we have here.

"We provided a live stream during the semis and finals so that people not in attendance could keep track of the match progress, and will be improving on this aspect even more in the future."

For regular competition opportunities at the Academy, on the last Sunday of each month Graham Perry will be organizing a handicap tournament to cater for players of all abilities.

For more information about the California Snooker Academy and to enter the monthly handicap, please contact either Ajeya or Sam at info@casnooker.com.

The USSA would like to thank both Ajeya and Sam for hosting their first Tour event and wish them all success for the future of the Academy, and much gratitude goes to the Tour sponsors, Aramith Billiards Balls, Sterling Gaming and the Tweeten Fibre Co. for their support.

With Tour event 12 being in progress over the same weekend at the Prince Snooker Club in Brooklyn, New York, the next USSA Tour event will be Event 13 to be played at the host of this year's United States National Snooker Championship, the 147 Snooker Club in Houston, Texas, which will take place from March 25 - 27.

For the complete 2015-16 USSA Tour season schedule and entry details, please click on the link below:
» 2015-16 USSA Tour Schedule & Entry Details