Sensational Sargon Claims First National Snooker Title
filed on Sunday, May 27, 2012. 10:11pm PT/USA
California's Sargon Isaac has sensationally won the United States National Snooker Championship title with victory in the final of this year's event at the Embassy Billiards Club in San Gabriel, California.
In what was his first appearance in the Championship, Isaac proved to be a revelation as he performed very well in winning all of his group matches in addition to his round of 16 and quarterfinal ties without dropping a frame - it was not until the fourth frame of his semifinal against Jack Kung did he finally lose a frame.
26-year-old Isaac faced his regular practice partner at Shoreline Billiards in Mountain View, California, Ajeya Prabhakar in the final, in what would be a repeat of the final event on the 2011-12 United States Snooker Association (USSA) Tour played last month at Shoreline Billiards.
For the highly experienced Prabhakar, playing in his fifth championship final and the third in the past four years, it was an opportunity to finally get that second title he so desired after he had earlier put out the defending champion Ahmed Aly Elsayed in an epic semifinal encounter.
The 2012 United States National Snooker Champion, Sargon Isaac Photo © SnookerUSA.com |
Isaac, who grew up and learned his snooker in Nottingham, England, though has lived in the United States for six years and is now an American citizen, took initial control of the final which was being streamed live to a worldwide audience over the internet.
He went into a 2-0 lead after winning the first two frames but a run of 32 by Prabhakar helped him to decisively seal the third frame, and he then pinched frame four on the final black ball to level the match at 2-2 going into the mid-session interval.
On the resumption of play, Prabhakar never really got back into the match as he lost frame five and appeared fatigued after his earlier long semifinal battle.
Sargon Isaac pictured with runner-up Ajeya Prabhakar Photo © SnookerUSA.com |
Isaac then proceeded to win the following two frames, conceding only thirteen points to rabhakar in the process, to wrap up the match with a convincing 5-2 victory and take his first National Snooker Championship title at his first attempt.
Final (Best-of-9-frames) |
Match ID |
Player |
|
Player |
F |
Ajeya Prabhakar (California) |
2 - 5 |
Sargon Isaac (California) |
» Final stats courtesy of MySnookerStats.com
Both Isaac and Prabhakar have now gained automatic selection to represent the United States at this year's IBSF World Snooker Championship in Sharm El Sheik, Egypt, from November 4-16.
The USSA would like to thank the sponsors of the Championship which include Tweeten Fibre Inc., manufacturers of some of the best known cue tips and chalk brands in snooker, and Saluc, manufacturer of Aramith Tournament Champion Snooker Balls, who have been a long-term supporter of snooker in the United States.
The USSA would also like to show their appreciation to the proprietors of the Embassy Billiards Club in hosting their eighth Championship, and yet again providing excellent quality tables to play the Championship on. Also to Daniel Busch, the owner of POV Pool Media, whose work on the live streaming of the Championship for the first time was magnificent in making it a very successful venture.