Winners Crowned at 2025 Wilson Interiors Hull Disability Snooker Open
The final ranking event of the 2024/25 season took place last weekend at the Tradewell Snooker Club in Hull with champions crowned across eight classification groups.
A record 87 cueists from nine nations and four continents embarked on East Yorkshire for the latest staging of the prestigious event which was first held in 2016.
Read about how the action unfolded below.
ABUBAKER BACK TO WINNING WAYS
Mahomed Abubaker defeated Dave Beaumont 3-1 in the Group 1+2 final to win his first ranking event for 20 months.
The 60-year-old from India was competing in his first WDBS event since last year’s Hull Open and he impressed as he came through a field of 10 cueists from five nations and four continents.
A trio of whitewash group stage victories over Craig Welsh, Tony Southern and Matthew Lester secured Abubaker a place in the quarter-finals where then overcame America’s Andrew Blood and Welsh once again without dropping a single frame.
World number one Beaumont, who compiled the group’s top break of 40 during the group stages, set up a title match meeting with Abubaker by downing Lester and Southern in the knockout stages.
The English became the first player to take a frame off the eventual champion by taking the opener of the final but the man from India then stepped up a gear to take three consecutive frames and take home the title.
KELLY IS THE KING IN HULL
Daniel Kelly beat Nigel Coton 4-1 in the Group 3 final to successfully defend his Wilson Interiors Hull Open crown.
The cueist from Ireland fought through the three-man group to pick up the fifth ranking event title of his career and secure qualification for next month’s Champion of Champions for the first time in his career.
Kelly lost just a single frame in the group stage, whitewashing Coton before overcoming world number one Kal Mattu 3-1 with a group top break of 33.
Coton joined Kelly in the title match by defeating Mattu 3-1 and the first two frames of the final were shared between the two former Hull Open champions.
From there, the Irishman pulled away and took three consecutive frames to get over the line as a 4-1 victor.
THOMSON ON TOP AT TRADEWELL
William Thomson overcame David Church 3-1 to win the Group 4 2025 Wilson Interiors Hull Open.
The 39-year-old from Scotland won the Hull Open crown for the second time in his career and lifted his first ranking event title since the 2023 Irish Open.
Thomson topped the ‘group of death’ with a clean sweep of victories over fellow eventual finalist Church, former ranking event finalist Nigel Brasier and ex-professional Dean Reynolds.
Back-to-back deciding frame victories over Tiana Dunne-Johnson and Lee Overton set up a rematch with Church, who had reached the title match by toppling both Daniel Blunn and Carl Gibson in the knockout stages.
Church took the opening frame of the final but was unable to push on and it was Thomson who hit back to win 3-1 and take home the title.
BOLTON DEFENDS HULL OPEN CROWN
Dave Bolton whitewasher Brynjar Valdimarsson to successfully defend his Group 5 Wilson Interiors Hull Open title.
Bolton, who sits at the summit of the Group 5 world rankings, made a strong start to the weekend by defeating both David Moritz and Gerdy Dupont in the group stages.
Iceland’s Valdimarsson ultimately topped the group by beating Bolton 2-0 in the first of their meetings at the Tradewell Snooker Club, leaving Bolton to face world number two Dalton Lawrence in the semi-finals.
Both Bolton and Valdimarsson ran out comfortable 3-0 winners in the last four over Lawrence and Dave Waller respectively, setting up a rematch in the title match.
The Englishman was out for revenge and hit a group high break of 46 in the opener before taking the next two to complete a 3-0 victory and earn the title.
RYDING WINS MAIDEN TITLE
Ryan Ryding defeated Alan Reynolds 3-2 in the Group 6A final to win his maiden WDBS ranking event title.
Competing in only his third WDBS event, the Englishman battled through a field of 16 players to win the gold medal at the Tradewell Snooker Club.
Group stage victories over Warren Ealy, Michael Farrell and Aidan Pollitt saw Ryding reach the knockout stages with just a single frame lost and he kept up his fine form to whitewash both Robert Cooper and Niall Pollitt en-route to the final.
There he faced Scotland’s Alan Reynolds, who had beaten Mohammed Faisal Butt in a battle of the world’s top two ranked players to reach the title match.
The two finalists went blow-for-blow in the final and the first four frames were shared to ensure a dramatic decider in Hull.
Ultimately, it was Ryding who held his nerve to take it on the colours and pick up his first ranking event crown.
WILLIAMS WINS AGAIN
Leroy Williams returned to winning ways by beating Christopher Goldsworthy 3-0 in the Group 6B final at the Wilson Interiors Hull Open.
The success marked Williams’ first ranking event title since the Belgian Open last March and made for the perfect preparation ahead of next month’s prestigious Champion of Champions.
Williams, who previously won the Hull Open in 2022, dropped just two frames in the group stage as he swept aside Rob Diparno, David Gilbert, Ben Rodgers and Daniel Tennant to reach the quarter-finals.
An impressive 2-0 win against Ryan Pinnington set up a last four meeting with Matthew Haslam, who had ended Williams’ unbroken streak as world number one earlier in the campaign.
It was a dramatic and hard-fought contest at the Tradewell Snooker Club but Williams showed his class to come from 2-0 behind and secure a 3-2 victory to earn his place in the final.
Former Irish Open champion Goldsworthy was the opponent in the final but Williams proved to be too strong as he ran out a 3-0 winner to earn the crown in Hull.
GOLD FOR GILLESPIE IN HULL
Mike Gillespie defeated Colvin O’Brien 3-1 in the Group 7 final to win the Wilson Interiors Hull Open for the second time in his career.
The 63-year-old cueist from England finished in second place in the initial seven-player group, winning four of his six first round contests as he overcame Ahmed Rohman, Paul Smith, Ronnie Allen and Raymond Marsland to reach the semi-finals.
A second victory of the weekend over Smith set up a title match meeting with current world number one O’Brien after he had downed England’s David Baker in the last four.
O’Brien had come out on top in the group stage meeting against Gillespie but found himself 2-0 behind in the best-of-five frame title match.
A stunning break of 72 saw the Irishman reduce the deficit, but it proved to be too little too late as Gillespie took the next frame to secure the Hull Open crown for the first time since 2021.
DRENNAN GOES BACK-TO-BACK
Luke Drennan beat Lewis Knowles 3-0 in the Group 8 final at the Tradewell Snooker Club to win back-to-back ranking event titles.
The Englishman, who won the previous event in Belgium in March, won the Hull Open title for the second time in his career by coming through a strong field of 12 players from five nations.
Just a single frame was dropped by Drennan in the initial group stage as he beat Richard Gott, Jonathan Steggles and David Grant to reach the last eight.
A 2-0 quarter-final victory over Lee Finbow was followed by a tense 3-2 victory over Grant, who had led 2-1 at one stage, to set up a final meeting with Knowles.
Both players had performed impressively en-route to the title match but it was Drennan who stepped up a gear when it counted to earn a whitewash win and pick up another ranking event title.
MORITZ WINS CHALLENGE CUP
David Moritz defeated Alistair Kay 2-1 to win the Challenge Cup at the Wilson Interiors Hull Open.
The Challenge Cup sees players who did not qualify for the final day’s knockout stages compete for glory and it was Group 5 player Moritz who took the title by defeating Gerdy Dupont, Lewis Richardson, James Lodge, Nigel Brasier and finally Kay at the Tradewell Snooker Club.
WDBS would like congratulate all the winners and thank everyone at the Tradewell Snooker Club and Wilson Interiors for their support with the event.
