The first of the two Group E opponents for the United States was the team from Russia, which consisted of 20-year-old Ivan Kakovski and 18-year-old Mikhail Terekhov.

Elsayed pinched the first frame against Kakovski on the final black, though Terekhov leveled the match after frame two with a comprehensive frame win over Prabhakar. The American doubles pairng however easily secured frame three assisted with a break of 35 by Prabhakar, and Elsayed wrapped up the tie 3-1 by defeating Terekhov in the fourth frame.

The United States then faced a very capable Ireland team, and as the Irish had just earlier defeated Russia 3-1, it meant that Elsayed and Prabhakar were safe in the knowledge that they had already qualified for the knockout stage – but they wanted to win in order to secure direct passage into the quarterfinals.

The United States started tremendously well with Elsayed defeating the promising young Irish player Aaron Hill, and then Prabhakar fired in a break of 62 to win the second frame over the three-time former Irish Amateur Champion and former professional, Brendan O'Donoghue. However the Irish team countered as they won the doubles frame, and 36-year-old O'Donoghue won frame four by defeating Elsayed on the final black ball. Ireland completed the amazing comeback as 17-year-old Hill stunned Prabhakar to claim a 3-2 success.

The United States will now advance into a round of 12 knockout tie against Thailand, which will commence at 11am local time (4am Eastern Time in the United States), with the winner taking on Pakistan in the quarterfinals.