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Aly Retains Title After Epic Final Battle
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filed on Sunday, July 4, 2010. 22:16 PT/USA
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| 2010 United States NationalSnooker Championship |
Embassy Billiards Club,
San Gabriel, California.
July 2 - 4. |
Ahmed Aly El Sayed has successfully defended his United States National Snooker Championship
title, with a sensational 5-4 defeat of Yi Fei Mei in the final at the Embassy Billiards Club
in San Gabriel, California.
Aly, who has become the first player to win back-to-back Championships since Tom Kollins in
1999, was for the second year running involved in a tense final frame shoot-out after a
tremendous tussle where he forged ahead then lost the advantage.
Yi, who won the United States Snooker Association Tour event at the Embassy Billiards Club last
year but was making his debut in the National Championship, got off to a solid start as a run
of 42 helped him secure the first frame to settle his nerves.
The second frame went down to the final colored balls but it was Aly's 35 break that assisted
him in getting his first frame on the scoreboard, but Yi edged ahead after sealing the third
frame with a run of 64.
Ahmed Aly pictured with the trophies after capturing the 2010 United States National Snooker Championship
Photo © SnookerUSA.com |
A fourth frame break of 49 got Aly back on level terms at 2-2, and after the mid-session
interval the 30-year-old from Brooklyn, NY, took the lead for the first time after claiming the
fifth frame on the final colored balls.
Yi, from nearby Monterey Park in California, hit back in frame six and then regained the lead
by taking the seventh frame and was now on the hill and ready to claim his first National
Championship title.
One frame behind with two to play, Aly had already found himself in this position during his
quarterfinal against Romil Azement, and on that occasion he was up to the task in coming from
behind and needed to find that same mental strength to do it again.
The five-times United States National Snooker Champion and Class 3 International Referee
Tom Kollins (center) pictured with Ahmed Aly El Sayed (left) and Yi Fei Mei prior to refereeing the final
Photo © SnookerUSA.com |
He won the eighth frame fairly convincingly and then he could call on his experience from last
year's final when he held his nerve to defeat Ajeya Prabhakar in the final frame.
Aly always had the upper hand in the final frame and he duly took it for a terrific second
National Championship final.
Aly, who has now firmly established himself at the top of the new United States Snooker
Association rankings, is now eligible to represent the United States at the International
Billiards & Snooker Federation (IBSF) World Snooker Championships in Syria later this year.
Final
(Best-of-9-frames) |
| Match ID |
Player |
Result |
Player |
| F |
Ahmed Aly El Sayed (New York) |
5 - 4 |
Yi Fei Mei (California) |
Frame scores and 30+ breaks in brackets (Aly's score states first):
1st. 19-62(42) 2nd. 71(35)-57 3rd. 30-95(64) 4th. 63(49)-6 5th. 57-48 6th. 39-66
7th. 27-66 8th. 68-35 9th. 76-41 |
The USSA would like to thank the Tweeten Fibre Company for being an official supplier to this
year's Championship, and the Embassy Billiards Club for hosting this year's Championship.
The USSA's president, Ajeya Prabhakar, also wanted to offer his personal thanks for those
involved with the organization of the Championship. He commented: "I would like to thank Bob
Jewett who did a wonderful job as the tournament director, Tom Kollins who was the head referee
and conducted the finals extremely well, focusing on the game which was almost a 4½hr.
affair at the age of 75, and Alan Morris who worked out the match schedule and did a great job
reporting the results on the SnookerUSA.com website."
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