Semifinals to feature two new faces
filed on Sunday, September 1, 2019. 8:25pm PT/USA
Cheang Ciing Yoo and Nitin Mehta will appear in their first United States National Snooker Championship semifinal match, after both players completed fantastic quarterfinal victories over Ajeya Prabhakar and Mark White respectively at Q Ball Snooker & Pool in Houston, Texas.
Yoo first played in this championship back in 2008, and the closest he had come to reaching the semifinals was in 2015 when he lost 4-3 to Prabhakar, however he will be delighted to have this time turned the tables on his opponent.
The two-time champion Prabhakar under performed, but all credit must go to the player from Washington state who took full advantage and he advanced with a deserved 4-2 victory.
In the semifinals, Yoo will face the 2017 champion Raymond Fung who came through a long hard-fought battle against his fellow New Yorker Laszlo Kovacs.
Kovacs, who was making his fifth appearance in a Championship quarterfinal without being able to make further progress, lost the first two frames but he then hit back by winning the following three frames assisted by runs of 72 and 39.
The number two seed was now under pressure as Kovacs was now competing and playing very well, but he held off the number four seed as he crucially battled away to win both the sixth and seventh frames on the final colored balls for a draining 4-3 success.
The quarterfinalists of the 2019 United States National Snooker Championship (from left to right): Ajeya Prabhakar, Nitin Mehta, Raymond Fung, Steven Wong, Ahmed Aly Elsayed, Mark White, Laszlo Kovacs and Cheang Ciing Yoo
Photo © SnookerUSA.com
It is only the second appearance for Mehta in the Championship after his round of 16 defeat in last year's event, so he has made fantastic progress this year to make it to the semifinals.
The Californian was runner-up in Group B to Fung, and had advanced into the quarterfinals after a win over Vaishal Talati in the round of 16. Mehta's opponent White, who had looked impressive in winning Group D, did prove to be disappointing however in this match and he took full advantage by carving out a creditable 4-2 win.
In the semifinals Mehta will face the defending champion Ahmed Aly Elsayed, as the number one seed came through his quarterfinal against Steven Wong 4-1.
The quarterfinal results and draw as follows:
Quarterfinals (Best-of-7 frames) |
Match ID |
Player |
|
Player |
QF1 |
Ahmed Aly Elsayed (New York) 1 |
4 - 1 |
Steven Wong (California) |
QF2 |
Mark White (Texas) |
2 - 4 |
Nitin Mehta (California) |
QF3 |
Raymond Fung (New York) 2 |
4 - 3 |
Laszlo Kovacs (New York) 4 |
QF4 |
Ajeya Prabhakar (California) 3 |
2 - 4 |
Cheang Ciing Yoo (Washington) |
The semifinals will commence Labor Day Monday at 11am local time (9am Pacific Time), played over the best-of-seven frames, with a player requiring to win four frames to book their place in the final.
The semifinals draw as follows:
Semifinals (Best-of-7 frames) |
Match ID |
Player |
|
Player |
SF1 |
Ahmed Aly Elsayed (New York) 1 |
vs. |
Nitin Mehta (California) |
SF2 |
Raymond Fung (New York) 2 |
vs. |
Cheang Ciing Yoo (Washington) |
The winner of the Championship on Labor Day Monday evening will be crowned the 2019 United States National Snooker Champion, and alongside the runner-up will gain automatic selection to represent the United States in the following year's international snooker competition.