Ahmad Ali and Raymond Fung
Defending Prince Club tour stop champion Raymond Fung has defeated the reigning United States National Snooker Champion, Ahmed Ali, to secure victory at Event 2 of the 2010 United States Snooker Association National Tour at the Prince Snooker Club in Brooklyn, New York.
The tour stop drew a 14-player field over the weekend of February 27-28. On Saturday, four round-robin preliminary flights determined the eight quarterfinalists (top 2 from each flight) to return for Sunday's final rounds. The preliminary flights featured 2-frame matches among each opponent within a flight.
[Numbers indicate win/loss record in frames in prelims]
Group A:
1st Raymond Fung: 6-0
2nd Kashif Rashid: 3-3 *
3rd Gary Cheung: 3-3
4th Sam Xue: 3-3
*Rashid places second with best point differential
Group B:
1st Ahmad Ali: 4-0
2nd Nelson Chan: 2-2
3rd Jerry Cutler: 0-4
Group C:
1st Paul Carbin: 3-2*
2nd Laszlo Kavacs: 2-2*
3rd Henry Wong: 2-2
*Carbin and Kavacs placement based on best point differential
Group D:
1st Kyle Sim: 6-1
2nd Sridhar Shrinivasan: 4-3
3rd Tim Lee: 3-4
4th Chen Yan Jun: 1-6
Fung (Brooklyn, NY) had an untroubled path toward the final as he won Group A without the loss of a single frame, and then proceeded to gain a 3-0 quarterfinal win over Group C runner-up, Laszlo Kavacs (Queens, NY), and compiled a top run of 61 in taking out his semifinal opponent, Kyle Sim (Brooklyn, NY), who won Group D, by a 4-1 score line.
Ali (Brooklyn, NY) was victorious in Group B as he claimed top spot undefeated without the loss of a frame too, and he comfortably produced a 3-0 quarterfinal success over Kashif Rashid (Queens, NY), who gained runner-up position in Group A, before then booking his final berth with the tour event's highest break of 75 during his 4-2 semifinal win over Group C winner, Paul Carbin (Queens, NY).
[Numbers indicate frame scores per match in final rounds, with any notable high run in parentheses]
Quarterfinals:
Raymond Fung (Brooklyn, NY) def. Laszlo Kavacs (Queens, NY) 3-0
79(33)-11, 73(38)-16, 61-3
Kyle Sim (Brooklyn, NY) def Nelson Chan (Brooklyn, NY) 3-0
52-42, 60-40, 51-33
Ahmad Ali (Brooklyn, NY) def. Kashif Rashid (Queens, NY) 3-0
54-10, 72(45)-23, 51-25
Paul Carbin (Queens, NY) def. Sridhar Shrinivasam (Philadelphia, PA) 3-0
69-12, 52-43, 60-13
Semifinals:
Raymond Fung def. Kyle Sim 4-1
72(32)-21, 61(61)-0, 51-52, 74-29, 61-44
Ahmad Ali def. Paul Carbin 4-2
62(35)-42, 72(41)-39, 94-13, 3-85(47), 40-63(49), 75(75)-31
In what was a repeat of last year's semifinal of the United States National Snooker Championship at the same venue, Fung gained revenge for his comprehensive loss to Ali; however the match did go down to the final colored balls in the final frame. Ali gained the early initiative by taking an early 2-0 advantage in the final assisted by respective runs of 34 and 67, but Fung's own break of 67 in frame three reduced his arrears to 2-1.
Fung then got back on level terms as he decisively claimed the fourth frame, and then forged 3-2 ahead as he sealed the following frame by pocketing a re-spotted black ball.
Ali however would not go down without a tremendous battle on the green baize, and he insured the match would be settled by a final frame shoot-out, as he compiled a break of 40 which helped him nail frame six.
Fung was to hold his in that final frame as he took the title on the final colored balls, which will give him much confidence as he prepares his game for his National Championship challenge to Ali later in the year.
Finals:
Raymond Fung def. Ahmad Ali 4-3
46(30)-67(34), 12-68(67), 79(67)-0, 65-25, 67-60 (re-spot black), 46-68(40), 57-49
Highest break-Ahmad Ali (75)
The USSA National Snooker Tour is sponsored by Aramith Billiard Balls and Strachan West Of England snooker cloth, and the 2010 Tour will feature its third stop (of the six-stop Tour) at California Billiard Club in Mountain View, CA, during the dates of March 13-14 (contact Bob Jewett at 408-615-7479). Full Tour schedule and entry details are available at www.snookerusa.com.
The USSA National Snooker Tour is sanctioned and produced by the United States Snooker Association (USSA) [established in 1991], which is recognized as the USA governing body for snooker by the world-governing body – the International Billiard & Snooker Federation (IBSF) – and which produces the annual USSA National Snooker Championships to determine the representatives from the USA to the annual IBSF World Snooker Championships. The 2010 USSA National Snooker Championships will be conducted July 2-4, at the Embassy Club in San Gabriel, CA. Entry is open to any player who meets USA citizenship/residence requirements. Interested parties may register online to receive an entry form and details at www.snookerusa.com.
