Renat Denkha fought off a spirited challenge by Ajeya Prabhakar to win the 2025 United States National Snooker Championship, to successfully defend his title at The Champion Snooker Club in Concord, California.

Denkha has proved a dominant force in snooker in the United States over the past eight months, which has seen him pick up four big titles including now his second United States National Snooker Championship victory.

The number one seed's progress to the final had been rather serene and untroubled, as opposed to Prabhakar's who had to endure a tense final frame test in the quarterfinals and semifinals by Bob Hemnani and Hasanain Alsultani respectively.

Despite being a two-time former champion who was appearing in an eighth final, Prabhakar's form in the past three Championships had been rather below par since his previous involvement in a final back in 2021. So by his own admission, even he was not expecting to go this deep into the Championship.

Prabhakar did though reach the final of 2024-25 Series Q Tour Americas event 2 at the Arizona Snooker Academy back in December, where he scored a brilliant 4-2 semifinal victory over the 2023 United States National Snooker Champion Daren Taylor which included a break of 92.

The Californian did seem to bring some of that "Arizona" form to this Championship of which he can take a lot of heart and confidence from, and he certainly proved to be more than a match for Denkha in the final.

The first four frames before the interval were a bit scrappy with fragmented play, but they were shared as Prabhakar kept a tight rein on Denkha with some excellent safety play.

After the interval there seemed to be a huge shift in momentum in favor of Prabhakar, as it appeared he was getting on top of Denkha after he secured frame five for a 3-2 advantage.

However, the sixth frame would prove incredibly pivotal as Prabhakar let slip a crucial 24-point advantage toward the end of the frame to fight out a black ball game with Denkha, and after which a few attempts were exchanged, it ended after the player from Chicago stroked it in with a beautiful long shot much to his great relief.

As Prabhakar came to the table to help with the setting up of the balls for the seventh frame, you could clearly see the regretful expression on his face as he knew he had let his opponent off the hook.

A 4-2 lead would have lifted Prabhakar's confidence and put him firmly in the driving seat for a third Championship title, but level at 3-3 he knew that he still had a huge battle on his hands to overcome Denkha.

In the seventh frame, Prabhakar again had the advantage toward the latter stage of the frame, but some critical missed pots and loose safety play enabled Denkha to strike back and take a 4-3 lead requring just one more frame for victory.

It was also a repeat story for the eighth frame, as Prabhakar had a frame winning chance amongst the red balls which were all in good positions. While at 23 points ahead in the frame, he missed a red while on a run of 36.

Denkha then stepped in and took full advantage of the very inviting position of the remaining five reds on the table, and he cleared the table in a very cool manner, clinching the match with a break of 52 to wrap up a 5-3 victory.

Alan Morris, the Executive Director of the United States Snooker Association (USSA), said after the final: "I would like to congratulate Renat who has clearly been the player of the Championship with his efficiently calm manner and performances, and is now a very worthy two-time United States National Snooker Champion. He has had an outstanding few months in snooker in the United States, and he thoroughly deserves all of his success.

"May I also congratulate my close friend Ajeya too for the way he played in this Championship, and also for his longevity in making it to yet another final, twenty-five years after reaching his first final of which he won back in 2000.

"His commitment to the sport's promotion and development in the United States is unwavering, not just as a player but even more so as a colleague in his serving role as the President of the United States Snooker Association.

"I would like to thank all the players who always turn out in their great numbers as they all love the sport and thrive on the experience competition snooker gives them, and everyone else who helped and assisted with the running of the Championship.

"Finally, my praise must go to Seary (Mr. Sanaullah Ansari), the owner of The Champion Snooker Club, for his enthusiasm in helping to host what was a truly magnificent Championship."