New York City closed out a dominant season with a 3-0 sweep over Vancouver Saturday afternoon at the US Go Congress in the Pandanet-AGA City League’s A League Finals, securing an undefeated run and the $5,000 top prize. Vancouver finishes as runner-up and takes home $2,500.
NYC’s Ryan Li 4p secured a hard-fought win on Board 1 against Vancouver’s Henry Yu 2p in what was described as the most chaotic match of the day. Despite a flurry of sharp trades, Li emerged with the advantage and sealed the first board for New York.
Vancouver’s lineup saw two late changes: Brady Zhang 7d, their usual third board, missed his flight and was replaced by Cathy Li 1p, who stepped in to face NYC’s Alex Qi 1p. On Board 2, Xuejun Peng 7d substituted for Bill Lin 1p, who had a scheduling conflict, and took on NYC’s Alan Huang 7d. New York swept both boards to clinch the clean victory.
“Many thanks to our sponsor Pandanet for making this league possible,” said TD Justin Teng, who also thanked the AGA EJ team for broadcasting the A League this past season. Stay tuned for registration for Season 14 opening in late summer. Read more on the Pandanet-AGA City League page.