Ahmed Aly Elsayed has won his fourth United States National Snooker Championship title seven years after his previous success, with victory in the 2018 final at the Prince Snooker Club in Brooklyn, New York.

Playing in his fourth successive final, Aly was desperate to get the title back which had eluded him for so long but he knew he was in for a hard-fought final having to play his fellow New Yorker, the number one seed and defending champion Raymond Fung who had defeated him twelve months ago in the deciding frame of that epic final at the New York Athletic Club.

Number two seed Aly had been the more positive and fluent player going into the final, as he cruised through his group matches without dropping a single frame. It was not until his semifinal against Ajeya Prabhakar had he seriously been challenged as he lost the first frame, though he went onto record a 4-2 win in a match that was very intensely contested.

Fung came through his group with relative ease, though was more troubled in the knockout phase as he came back from a 2-0 deficit to his good friend Henry Wong in the round of 16 to win the match 3-2 on the final black ball. His 4-1 defeat of Cheang Ciing Yoo in the quarterfinals was much closer than the scoreline suggested, but his confidence would have improved after his swift 4-0 semifinal victory over Mihai Visovan.

In last year's final, Fung made a tremendous start in winning the first three frames and he would have recognized that he needed to do something similar again this year if he was to successfully defend his title. However the first two frames followed a very similar pattern as Aly got in early with an assertive contribution, but Fung's counter play just fell short of what was required and he found himself crucially 2-0 behind.

Fung finally got off the mark in frame three as he secured it on the pink ball, but a break of 40 from Aly in the next helped him to comprehensively take the frame for a commanding 3-1 advantage going into the mid-session interval.

Aly had looked calm throughout the final, but Fung displays natural intensity with each shot and the pressure was now clearly starting to show as he knew he was not performing anywhere close to his best.

On the resumption of play, Aly, who was playing in a record equaling seventh Championship final, again increased the pressure on his opponent as he fired in a break of 66 in the fifth frame to only need one more frame at 4-1 up.

A steely break of 44 in the next frame helped Fung put Aly in the one snooker required position, only to see him disastrously go in-off the final blue while playing a safety shot. Much to Fung's relief though, Aly could not take advantage of the long attempted blue to give him the chance to secure the frame and trail 4-2.

In the next frame Fung also found himself in the driving seat, but he was just not decisive enough as he presented an opportunity for Aly to clear the table and win the title.

A positional error by Aly from blue to pink though would have given Fung some hope for a possible reprieve, however as he tried to force the pink into the left center pocket it struck the near side knuckle and went right along the cushion into the far corner pocket and importantly still leaving perfect position on the final black ball.

Aly duly stroked in that final black ball for a clearing break of 33 to win frame and the Championship 5-2, and the relief was evident on his face having been the runner-up in the three previous Championships.

Aly was quick to praise everyone for their support, particularly from the New York Athletic Club who he said he could not have achieved this success without.

Fung has been a wonderful champion over the past year, and although he will naturally be disappointed at becoming a runner-up for the third time, he is a thoughtful and pragmatic individual and will nevertheless be pleased that last year he achieved his snooker ambition at least once and next year will have the opportunity to try again.

Alan Morris, the Executive Director of the United States Snooker Association (USSA), said: "May I again thank everyone who makes this Championship the wonderful event that it always is, and congratulate Ahmed on his fine performances to finally be back as the National Champion after such a long gap.

"May I thank all the players who come from far and wide across the United States because of their love of the sport, and for their competitive spirit.

"To Charles Brown I offer my appreciation who was a magnificent Tournament Director and to Jonathan Royalty too who did such a great job with the live streaming of matches throughout the Championship.

"I would also like to thank Amit Seth who was a great referee for the final, and also to our Championship sponsors, the Taishan Biaoli Billiard Sports Equipment Co. Ltd., the Kowloon Café in Brooklyn, and also to Aramith Billiard Balls for their long-term continued support for snooker in the United States."

Morris concluded: "This is the fourth time that the Prince Snooker Club has hosted this prestigious Championship, and they are always special because of the unique and friendly welcome from the proprietor Tommy Chen, and his wife Anita, who I offer my sincerest gratitude to."

The Final result as follows:

Final (Best-of-9 frames)
Match ID	Player		Player
F	Raymond Fung (New York) 1	2 - 5	Ahmed Aly Elsayed (New York) 2
	Frame scores and 30+ breaks in brackets (Fung's score stated first): 1st. 52(40)-75(44)   2nd. 49(34)-82(35)   3rd. 57-48   4th. 12-99(40)   5th. 15-74(66)   6th. 75(44)-48   7th. 50-63(33)

Aly and Fung have now gained automatic selection to represent the United States in the coming year's international snooker championships. Should any of the players be unavailable the USSA will have discretion on who it selects subject to performances, in addition to any further available entries into the Championships.