Defending champion Aly eases into quarterfinals
filed on Sunday, September 1, 2019. 11:19am PT/USA
Defending champion Ahmed Aly Elsayed has bounced back from his shock final Group match defeat, to ease through into the quarterfinals of the 2019 United States National Snooker Championship at Q Ball Snooker & Pool in Houston, Texas.
The 11am session of round of 16 matches saw the number one seed in full control of his tie against Rushil Vig, as he hit breaks of 46, 35, 34 and 40 to complete a 3-0 victory as he seeks to equal Tom Kollins' record of five titles.
In the quarterfinals he will face Steven Wong, as the Californian came through a tight tussle against Michael Monegato.
After taking an early 2-0 advantage without much resistance, the player from Illinois fought incredibly well to seal the following two frames to level the match, however he fell short in the final frame as Wong claimed a 3-2 success.
The round of 16 players competing in the 11am session (from left to right): Amit Karki, Vaishal Talati, Nitin Mehta, Steven Wong, Ahmed Aly Elsayed, Michael Monegato, Mark White and Rushil Vig
Photo courtesy of Kris Monegato / © SnookerUSA.com
Mark White, who won Group D without losing a frame, continued his efficient progress through the Championship as he came through his round of 16 match against Amit Karki 3-0.
White has set up a quarterfinal meeting with Nitin Mehta, who was runner-up in Group B, after the player from California came through his tie against Vaishal Talati of Illinois 3-1.
The second session of round of 16 matches will commence at 2pm local time (12pm Pacific Time), where the number two seed Raymond Fung, the number three seed Ajeya Prabhakar and the number four seed Laszlo Kovacs are all in action hoping to book their quarterfinal berths.
The round of 16 draw as follows:
Round of 16
(Best-of-5 frames) |
| Match ID |
Player |
|
Player |
| R16-1 |
Ahmed Aly Elsayed (New York) 1 |
3 - 0 |
Rushil Vig (California) |
| R16-2 |
Steven Wong (California) |
3 - 2 |
Michael Monegato (Illinois) |
| R16-3 |
Mark White (Texas) |
3 - 0 |
Amit Karki (California) |
| R16-4 |
Nitin Mehta (California) |
3 - 1 |
Vaishal Talati (Illinois) |
| R16-5 |
Raymond Fung (New York) 2 |
vs. |
Syed Hassan (Texas) |
| R16-6 |
Laszlo Kovacs (New York) 4 |
vs. |
Arif Mahmood (Illinois) |
| R16-7 |
Ajeya Prabhakar (California) 3 |
vs. |
Majid Randhawa (Louisiana) |
| R16-8 |
Cheang Ciing Yoo (Washington) |
vs. |
Thomas Tan (Illinois) |
The quarterfinals, which will be contested over the best-of-7 frames, will commence at 6pm local time (4pm Pacific Time).
The winner of the Championship on Labor Day Monday evening will be crowned the 2019 United States National Snooker Champion, and alongside the runner-up will gain automatic selection to represent the United States in the following year's international snooker competition.
