Chicago's Renat Denkha has won his first United States National Snooker Championship title, after a terrific 5-1 victory over defending champion Daren Taylor in the 2024 final at the Embassy Billiards Club in San Gabriel, California.

Denkha had already tasted success at the Embassy Billiards Club this year as he won the Embassy Open back in September, and so came into this Championship as one of the favorites despite not being a seeded player.

It was only the third time that Denkha has competed in this Championship, having lost in the semifinals back in 2017 and in the quarterfinals last year to Taylor who went on to win the Championship. So Denkha came into the final absolutely determined to turn that loss from last year around into a victory.

Denkha's game grew as he progressed through the Championship, having experienced a shaky narrow win in his first group match against Shakib Nihan Karim, he then scored three swift 3-0 knockout round victories over Norman Hung, Jay Sha and Arif Mahmood respectively, before then a much more challenging 4-2 semifinal win over debut player Tom Limor to book his place in the final.

Meanwhile, Taylor had very few problems on his way to the semifinals, as he won all three of his group matches without losing a frame, defeated Argen Zadourian 3-0 in the round of 32,, and in a repeat of last year's final he again overcame Steven Wong 3-1 in the round of 16 before then securing an excellent 3-0 quarterfinal success over the very promising young player Arafat Amat.

However, Taylor experienced an almighty tussle in the semifinals against Karim who had caused problems for Denkha in their group encounter. The number one seed player found himself 3-1 down at one point, but slowly fought back for an epic 4-3 victory on the final black ball.

Denkha came into the final the much more fresh player as he had completed his semifinal win two-and-a-half hours before Taylor had completed his. This was demonstrated with his much more free-flowing action, as he took the first frame and then secured the second frame with a break of 97 – missing the final long green ball for the century.

Denkha then pushed on with his advantage as he sealed both frames three and four, but Taylor fought back hard to avoid the whitewash and crucially took the fifth frame assisted with a run of 36.

Taylor knew that he still had a mountain to climb, but nonetheless would never give up the pursuit to retain his title. Though Denkha secured the following frame to claim a very comprehensive victory and that all-important The Tom Kollins Trophy, in what was a very good quality final befitting of the Championship.

It would have been natural to believe that Taylor was severely fatigued after his semifinal win which lasted for six-and-a-half hours, but he was very complimentary about his opponent after the match and remarked that it was "Very well deserved and great to play someone who plays snooker the way it should be played."

Denkha commented after his victory: "So proud and happy. Thank you everyone for the love and support. Thank you everyone who participated and put in the effort to make this tournament more successful."

Alan Morris, the Executive Director of the United States Snooker Association (USSA), said on conclusion: "I would like to thank everyone involved in the staging of this absolutely magnificent Championship, from the players to all my colleagues in the Association, particularly the president, Ajeya Prabhakar.

"Thank you to Ray Fung who helped with refereeing the semifinals, and also to Amitabh Seth who impeccably officiated the final.

"My praise also must go to Steven Wong, the proprietor of the Embassy Billiards Club, who again has been a fantastic host who stepped in with his offer to stage the Championship after the cancellation of the event back in May.

"I would also like to congratulate Renat on his very fine victory! He has played so well throughout this Championship, and performed so great in the final when it counted the most.

"We already cannot wait for next year's Championship, and the lasting memories that will make as we further grow and develop this great sport of snooker in the United States."

For all the group match results and knockout draw results, please visit Cloud Snooker:
» 2024 United States National Snooker Championship on Cloud Snooker