Sargon Isaac (Photo courtesy of Daniel Busch)
Picking up speed as the best-of-9 finals advanced to its later stages on Sunday night, May 27, California's Sargon Isaac defeated Ajeya Prabhakar 5-2 to become the US Snooker Association's 2012 champion. He and Prabhakar are now eligible to represent the US in the ISBF World Snooker Championships, scheduled for November 4-16 in Egypt. The 2012 Snooker Championships drew a total of 30 entrants to the Embassy Club in San Gabriel, CA.
Earlier in the day, Isaac had defeated Kwan Wai Kon 3-0 in one of the four quarterfinal matches and moved into a semifinal match versus Jack Kung, who had defeated Ernst Bezemer 3-2. Prabhakar had defeated Jeff Szafransky 3-0 for a chance in the semifinals against Aly, who'd defeated Romil Azemat 3-2.
Isaac earned his shot at the finals by defeating Jack Kung 4-1 in the semifinals. In a re-match of the 2009 finals that gave Aly his first US title, Prabhakar downed Aly 4-3.
The best-of-9 finals began on a back and forth note, with Isaac winning the first two frames (69-40, 48-32) and Prabhakar tying things up by winning the next two (79-15, and a tight 46-44). From that point on, it was all Isaac, as he went on to win the fifth frame 89-32, and allowed Prabhakar only two points in the sixth frame, 59-2. At the 58-11 mark of the seventh frame, Prabhakar conceded, and Isaac was crowned champion.
As is always the case in the US Snooker Championships, a cash prize was awarded to the player with the highest 'break;' a point total derived from a given player's highest point total during one time at the table. That award went to Jack Kung, who scored 68 points in an early round match against Aurangzeb Mahmud; a match he won 2-0.
