The reigning United States National Snooker Champion, Ahmed Aly Elsayed, has recorded the first ever century break to be compiled in a United States Snooker Association (USSA) Tour event, but it is Omar Balsara who wins a high-quality Event 4 at the prestigious New York Athletic Club (NYAC).

A new format was adopted for this first ever Tour Event to be contested at the NYAC, as the winner and runner-up of the four first round groups would advance into two quarterfinal groups of four players.

Raymond Fung, already a winner on this year's Tour, topped Group A ahead of Isa Ismaili, who is the manager of the NYAC's beautiful billiard room which has four full-sized snooker tables which he keeps in immaculate condition — the billiard room boasts a magnificent view overlooking Central Park.

Drawn in the same first round Group B, Aly and Balsara safely negotiated their appearance in the quarterfinal Groups as they finished first and second respectively, with the five-time United States National Snooker Champion Tom Kollins, who made the trip from Chicago to compete in the event, finishing third, and Naoyuri Kaneko of Charleston, South Carolina, finishing in fourth spot.

Henry Wong, a quarterfinalist in last year's United States National Snooker Championship, won first round Group C, and he was joined in the quarterfinal groups with second placed Laszlo Kovacs.

The quarterfinal groups were completed by Irishman Paul Carbin, who won first round Group D as the only player in this group round not to lose a single frame, and Amro Aburehab who captured the second qualifying place.

Winner of Event 4 of the 2010 United States Snooker Association Tour, Omar Balsara (right), pictured with runner-up Raymond Fung (left), and Ahmed Aly, the first player to compile a century break in a USSA Tour Event Photo © SnookerUSA.com

First Round - Group A (best of 3 frames)						Matches		Frames
Pos.	Player	1	2	3		Won	Loss	Won	Loss	Diff.
1	Raymond Fung (Brooklyn, NY)	-	2	2		2	0	4	1	3
2	Isa Ismaili (Brooklyn, NY)	1	-	2		1	1	3	3	0
3	Jerry Cutler (Queens, NY)	0	1	-		0	2	1	4	-3
First Round - Group B (best of 3 frames)						Matches		Frames
Pos.	Player	1	2	3	4	Won	Loss	Won	Loss	Diff.
1	Ahmed Aly Elsayed (Brooklyn, NY)	-	2	2	2	3	0	6	1	5
2	Omar Balsara (Washington, DC)	1	-	2	2	2	1	5	2	3
3	Tom Kollins (Grayslake, IL)	0	0	-	2	1	2	2	4	-2
4	Naoyuri Kaneko (Charleston, SC)	0	0	0	-	0	3	0	6	-6
First Round - Group C (best of 3 frames)						Matches		Frames
Pos.	Player	1	2	3	4	Won	Loss	Won	Loss	Diff.
1	Henry Wong (Brooklyn, NY)	-	1	2	2	2	1	5	2	3
2	Laszlo Kovacs (Queens, NY)	2	-	2	0	2	1	4	3	1
3	Herb Lehman (Torrington, CT)	0	0	-	2	1	2	2	4	-2
4	Sridhar Shrinivasan (Philadelphia, PA)	0	2	0	-	1	2	2	4	-2
Quarterfinal - Group D (best of 3 frames)						Matches		Frames
Pos.	Player	1	2	3	4	Won	Loss	Won	Loss	Diff.
1	Paul Carbin (Queens, NY)	-	2	2	2	3	0	6	0	6
2	Amro Aburehab (Brooklyn, NY)	0	-	2	2	2	1	4	3	1
3	Kyle Sim (Queens, NY)	0	1	-	2	1	2	3	4	-1
4	Tom Greenan (Manhattan, NY)	0	0	0	-	0	3	0	6	-6

The winner and runner-up of the two quarterfinal groups would then progress to play in a four-player semifinal Group G.

Fung and Balsara were again drawn in the same group as they contested the quarterfinal Group E alongside Wong and Aburehab. The 2004 United States National Snooker Championship runner-up Fung, who gained that achievement when it was played at the NYAC, gained his second victory of the Tour Event over Balsara which helped him win the group, however the Washington DC resident also booked his spot in the semifinal group with victories over Wong and Aburehab.

Carbin continued his fine form as he went on to win quarterfinal Group F, with Aly sealing his progression by pocketing successes over Kovacs and Ismaili.

Quarterfinal - Group E (best of 3 frames)						Matches		Frames
Pos.	Player	1	2	3	4	Won	Loss	Won	Loss	Diff.
1	Raymond Fung (Brooklyn, NY)	-	2	2	2	3	0	6	1	5
2	Omar Balsara (Washington, DC)	1	-	2	2	2	1	5	2	3
3	Henry Wong (Brooklyn, NY)	0	0	-	2	1	2	2	4	-2
4	Amro Aburehab (Brooklyn, NY)	0	0	0	-	0	3	0	6	-6
Quarterfinal - Group F (best of 3 frames)						Matches		Frames
Pos.	Player	1	2	3	4	Won	Loss	Won	Loss	Diff.
1	Paul Carbin (Queens, NY)	-	2	2	2	3	0	6	1	5
2	Ahmed Aly (Brooklyn, NY)	0	-	2	2	2	1	4	2	2
3	Laszlo Kovacs (Queens, NY)	1	0	-	2	1	2	3	4	-1
4	Isa Ismaili (Brooklyn, NY)	0	0	0	-	0	3	0	6	-6

The winner and runner-up of semifinal Group G would go onto contest the final, and as this group featured four very capable players there surely would prove to be some high quality play.

Testament to the quality of the players was the fact that Aly, who will get the chance to defend his United States National Snooker Championship title in July at the Embassy Billiards in San Gabriel, California, lost all three of his matches, but he did compile a run of 102 during this event for the honor of recording the first ever century break made in a USSA Tour Event.

It was Balsara however who this time won the semifinal Group G by a one frame margin as he defeated Fung 2-0 but lost to Carbin 2-1. Fung and Carbin finished on identical records, though it was Fung who advanced into the final by virtue of defeating Carbin 2-0 in their match.

Semifinals - Group G (best of 3 frames)						Matches		Frames
Pos.	Player	1	2	3	4	Won	Loss	Won	Loss	Diff.
1	Omar Balsara (Washington, DC)	-	2	1	2	2	1	5	2	3
2	Raymond Fung (Brooklyn, NY)	0	-	2	2	2	1	4	3	1
3	Paul Carbin (Queens, NY)	2	0	-	2	2	1	4	3	1
4	Ahmed Aly Elsayed (Brooklyn, NY)	0	1	0	-	0	3	1	6	-5
Fung awarded second place over Carbin as winner of their match

In the best-of-five-frames final, Balsara defeated Fung 3-1 to claim his first USSA Tour title.

The USSA would like to thank the NYAC and the billiard room manager, Isa Ismaili, for their support in hosting a 2010 USSA Tour Event.

For the whole Tour schedule and entry details please click on the following link:
» 2010 USSA Tour entry details