Denkha eyes third successive title
filed Friday, September 4, 2026. 10:12pm PT/USA
Renat Denkha has begun his defense of the United States National Snooker Championship title with two group wins on the opening day's play of this year's event, which is taking place at two venues in California, the PABSA Academy in Santa Clara and California Snooker in San Jose, from September 4 - 8.
The two-time champion and number one seed lost the first frame of his Group A match against Paul Richardson at California Snooker, though he hit back to claim the tie 2-1. The player from Chicago then defeated New York state's Lino Dianetti 2-0 to put himself in pole position to win the group.
The number two seed Daren Taylor has had a more precarious start to his Championship campaign, as after the 2023 Champion had a comfortable 2-0 win over Abdul Fatah Amiri in his first Group B match at the PABSA Academy he then suffered a 2-0 loss to Peter Du. Du has won both of his group matches as has Arafat Amat, who was a late replacement after a withdrawal in the group.
The twice former champion and number three seed Ajeya Prabhakar has won his first two Group C matches at the PABSA Academy along with New York state's Alfred Tinger, with the pair facing off against each other in California Snooker at 9am Saturday to secure their passage into the knockout stage.
Last year's semifinalist and number four seed Andy McCloskey defeated Rajneesh Bansal 2-0 in his opening Group D tie at California Snooker, though the Californian then went down 2-0 to the Championship runner-up of 20 years ago Romil Azemat. The proprietor of the Arizona Snooker Academy currently heads Group D as the only player with an 100% match win record.
Group E is a fascinating group with Tom Limor featured as the number five seed, though it is the six times former Champion Ahmed Aly Elsayed who leads the group after the first day's play at California Snooker as he defeated local player Raymond McCarthy 2-0 in his first match and then Limor 2-1. Limor, McCarthy, Dave Daly and Mohammad Rahim all head into the second day's play at the PABSA Academy with one win each from their two group matches.
The former three times Champion Sargon Isaac has started strongly in Group F as the number six seed defeated Ernst Bezemer from Texas 2-0 assisted with a break of 61, and the Californian then produced a run of 57 to see off Amit Karki 2-0 at the PABSA Academy. Omar Balsara is making a welcome return to the Championship after appearing in the quarterfinals three years ago, and he is off to an excellent start with two wins from his opening two Group F ties.
The 2022 Champion and number seven seed Steven Wong faced the Championship's only female competitor Frances Tso in his opening Group G match, with the Californian defeating the player from Washington state 2-0 at the PABSA Academy. Wong then proceeded to defeat Arif Mahmood 2-0 in his second group tie, though shares the lead of the group with Sanaullah Ansari who won both of his opening matches 2-0 too.
The number eight seed Hasanain Alsultani has had a mixed start to his Championship, as last year's semifinalist defeated Zia Sheik 2-0 in his initial Group H match though then lost to Daniel Holoyda 2-1 at California Snooker. Holoyda, who is making his debut in the Championship, currently holds the Championship's highest break after compiling a run of 76 during his earlier 2-0 success over Tommy Kollins, whose late father, Tom Kollins, the Championship trophy is named in honor of.
