Glory in Golem for European Disability Snooker Champions
Champions were crowned across six classification groups at the 2025 European Disability Snooker Championship which was held at the Grand Blue Fafa Resort in Golem, Albania.
Staged alongside the 2025 European Billiards & Snooker Association (EBSA) Championships, the second staging of one of the most prestigious events on the World Disability Billiards & Snooker (WDBS) Tour calendar saw 35 players from 11 countries and four continents competing for glory in Golem.
Beaumont Goes Back-To-Back
Dave Beaumont defended the European Disability Snooker Championship title in Albania by defeating Tony Southern 3-1 in the Group 1-2 final.
Six players contested the wheelchair classification group and it was former world number one Southern who made the strongest start by securing a clean sweep of group stage victories, including a 2-1 win over Beaumont in a repeat of last year’s European final.
Beaumont earned his place in the last four with a quartet of opening round wins and there he met reigning Group 1 world champion Gary Swift.
Despite losing the opener, the 57-year-old managed to overcome Swift by a 3-1 scoreline to set up a final rematch against compatriot Southern.
It was always going to be a close contest, as the first frame proved when Southern took it on a respotted black to lead 1-0. Beaumont quickly restored parity with a break of 32, however, before moving one away from the winning line by taking the next.
The fourth frame once again came down to the final ball and it was Southern who lost it in devastating fashion by going in-off after attempting a long black to hand Beaumont the title.
Lam Defends European Title
Andy Lam defeated Peter Hull 3-1 in Group 3 to win the European Disability Snooker Championship title for a second consecutive year.
The 52-year-old from Hong Kong China successfully defended his European title in Golem, Albania by coming through the three-player ambulant classification group.
Despite losing his opening group match 3-1 to fellow eventual finalist Hull, Lam was able to secure a place in the title match by whitewashing world number one Kal Mattu.
Lam was out for revenge in the final against Hull, who had topped the group courtesy of also recording a 3-0 victory over two-time ranking event winner Mattu, and after the first two frames of the final were shared he took the third on the colours to move within one of victory.
The Hong Kong China cueist was then able to hold his nerve to get over the line in the next and defend his European Championship crown.
Blunn Extends WDBS Title Record
Daniel Blunn beat David Church 3-1 in Group 4 to win a record-extending 18th WDBS title at the Grand Blue Fafa Resort.
The World Snooker Tour (WST) Hall of Fame inductee came through a strong group of eight players that included reigning world champion Carl Gibson and five-time event winner Church.
Five wins from seven outings was enough to see Blunn safely through to the knockout stages – including a dramatically notable 2-1 success against Church on the final black.
A whitewash victory over a struggling Gibson saw the 34-year-old into the final where he would once against meet Church, who had defeated Belgium’s Yannick Piscador to reach his maiden European Championship final.
An epic European Championship semi-final meeting between Blunn and Church twelve months ago had seen Blunn turn a 2-0 deficit into a 3-2 victory in dramatic fashion.
A comeback looked to be the story once again in this final as the hall of famer raced into a 2-0 lead before losing the third on the colours.
Blunn looked nervous in the fourth, at one stage missing a relatively straightforward match ball brown, but another chance quickly presented itself and he was able to hold his nerve this time around to win the European title for the first time in his career.
Butt Breaks New Ground With European Glory
Shahzad Butt won the first WDBS title of his career in impressive fashion by overcoming Dave Bolton 3-1 in the Group 5 final.
Butt, from Pakistan, was the dominant force in the ambulant classification group as he dropped just three frames across the week and scored the two highest breaks of the entire event with contributions of 82 and 71.
A clean sweep of victories in the group stage, including a 2-1 win against world number one and defending champion Bolton, saw the former World Championship semi-finalist comfortably into the semi-finals.
There he faced former Hull Open finalist Brynjar Valdimarsson and the man from Iceland proved to be no match for the imperious Butt who earned a maiden WDBS final place as a 3-0 victor.
Bolton had made an uncharacteristically slow start to the competition with defeats at the hands both Dalton Lawrence and Butt. A trio of group stage victories had seen him through to the semi-finals, however, where three half-century breaks saw him gain revenge on Lawrence with a dominant display.
The highly-anticipated title match was evenly-contested in the early stages as Butt took the opener on the final black before Bolton was able to restore parity.
Butt took the third to move within one of a maiden title and he showed no signs of nerves as he fired in a break of 47 to secure the European Championship title.
Olsen Wins On Unforgettable Debut
Nicklas Olsen stunned on his WDBS debut to defeat Reece Matin 3-0 and win the 2025 European Disability Snooker Championship title in Group 6.
The 22-year-old from Denmark was the sole Group 6A representative in the combined intellectual group and he made the perfect start by beating Rob Diparno and James Lodge on the opening day.
The Dane kept up this fine form and picked up a clean sweep of wins across the opening round to qualify for the semi-finals as the group winner.
Former world number one and 14-time WDBS event winner Leroy Williams was Olsen’s semi-final opponent.
Williams had struggled for form during the event and was on the receiving end of upset defeats to Lodge and Diparno early on, but had qualified for the knockout stages over Lodge courtesy of frame difference.
As had been the case in their group stage meeting, Olsen once again dominated the proceedings and ran out a 3-0 victor to set up a final meeting with recently-crowned UK champion Matin.
Olsen’s form showed no signs of slowing down on the final day and he completed a 3-0 victory in rapid fashion to cap off an unforgettable debut week on the WDBS Tour.
Knowles Lift European Crown
Lewis Knowles defeated Gary Taylor 3-1 in Group 7+8 to win the European Disability Snooker Championship for the first time.
The Englishman successfully won through the combined visual and deaf classification group to win the seventh WDBS title of his career.
Knowles, who had not won a ranking event title since the 2024 British Open, topped the initial five-player group courtesy of victories over Ronnie Allen, Jonathan Steggles and Matthew Stera.
The last four saw two Englishmen and two Welshmen vying for European glory and it was to be an all-English final as Knowles whitewashed Steggles, while Taylor came through in a deciding frame against 82-year-old Allen.
The group stage meeting between Knowles and Taylor had gone down to the very last ball, with Taylor taking it 2-1 on the final black, and the early stages of the final were also closely contested as Knowles took the opener before his opponent hit back with a break of 49 to level.
Two tight frames followed, but the eventual champion was able to take both on the colours to take home the trophy.
Cartwright Crowned Challenge Cup Champion
Steve Cartwright beat Nigel Brasier 3-1 to win the Challenge Cup title in Golem, Albania.
The Challenge Cup took place over the weekend for cueists who did not qualify from the group stages of the main competition.
A total of 12 players took part and it was Group 4 player Cartwright who registered consecutive 2-0 wins over James Lodge, Matthew Stera and Rob Diparno to reach the final.
His title match opponent was fellow Group 4 cueist Brasier, who had last beaten Oliver Hanson 2-0 to book his place in Sunday’s title match.
Brasier took the opening frame of the best-of-five final but Cartwright bounced back and moved ahead with a break of 32 in frame three.
The 60-year-old Englishman was then able to hold his nerve and get over the line in the next frame to win the third Challenge Cup title of his career.
WDBS would like to thank the EBSA for their support with the 2025 European Disability Snooker Championship. The WDBS season continues with the Irish Open on 21-23 November – enter now via WPBSA SnookerScores.
