Renat Denkha Wins Maiden United States National Championship Title
Renat Denkha defeated Daren Taylor 5-1 in the final of the United States National Snooker Championship at the Embassy Billiards Club in San Gabriel, California.
Denkha’s victory against the defending champion, who had eliminated him at the quarter-final stage last year, saw him become the national champion for the first time in his career.
Organised by the United States Snooker Association (USSA), the event was held on 22-25 November and saw 60 American cueists embark on the Embassy Club in San Gabriel.
The eventual champion came through his three-player group with back-to-back victories before a trio of consecutive whitewash wins over Norman Hung, Jay Sha and Arif Mahmood saw Denkha book his place in the semi-finals.
There he faced tournament debutant Tom Limor, who he overcame by a 4-2 scoreline to reach the final of the United States National Snooker Championship for the first time.
Top seed and defending champion Taylor was his opponent in the title match. He had been in imperious form, dropping just a single frame en route to the last four stage, where he was pushed all the way by Shakib Nihan Karim – coming from 3-1 behind to earn a 4-3 victory on the final black.
Denkha was vying for revenge, having lost to Taylor in last year’s championship, and looked dominant as he raced into a 4-0 lead in the best-of-nine frame final contest with help from an excellent break of 97.
Taylor was able to avoid the whitewash by taking the fifth frame, but it proved to be too little too late and Denkha took the next to get over line and win the prestigious Tom Kollins Trophy for the first time.
