Champions Defend Titles at Landywood
History was made at the 2026 Champion of Champions as all eight titles were successfully defended at the Landywood Snooker Club in England this weekend.
The top two ranked players from each of the eight main classification groups encompassing physical, intellectual and sensory disabilities faced off in long-format best of 11 frame finals at the Walsall venue.
First held in 2018, the event saw players contest the Nick Oliver Trophy in the 2025/26 season finale.
Groups 1-5 (Physical)
Dave Beaumont retained his 100% record at the Champion of Champions at he defeated Tony Southern 6-1 for a second successive year in the Group 1+2 final.
The 58-year-old becomes the first wheelchair user to lift the title on more than one occasion.
There were also repeat champions in the three ambulant classification groups as Daniel Kelly (Group 3), Carl Gibson (Group 4) and Dave Bolton (Group 5) all defended their titles in Landywood.
Ireland’s Kelly claimed the title for a second time with a 6-2 victory against first-time finalist Peter Hull, while Gibson and Bolton both lifted the title for a third straight year following repeat wins against David Church (6-1) and Dalton Lawrence (6-2) respectively.
Group 6 (Intellectual)
England’s Mohamed Faisal Butt completed the successful defence of the Group 6A title following a comprehensive 6-0 whitewash victory against Ireland’s Aidan Pollitt.
Having captured the title a year ago for the first time, Butt was competing in his fifth Champion of Champions final and made short work of his debutant opponent to retain the title.
In Group 6B, there was also a one-sided for Matthew Haslam who defeated Leroy Williams 6-0 to win the title for a third successive year in Landywood.
The 21-year-old top scored with breaks of 55, 43 and 41 to seal victory.
Groups 7-8 (Sensory)
Dylan Rees scored a 6-2 victory against compatriot Colvin O’Brien to complete a hat-trick of Group 7 Champion of Champions titles and complete the double double, having also lifted world titles in 2025 and 2026.
England’s Luke Drennan completed a clean sweep of titles for last year’s winners as he ran out a comfortable 6-1 winner against former champion Lewis Knowles to lift the Nick Oliver Trophy for a second year in Group 8.
World Disability Billiards and Snooker congratulates each of this year’s eight champions, as well as the runner-ups who qualified for the tournament on account of their achievements over the past two years on the Tour.
Thanks also go to Paul Lloyd and his team at the Landywood Snooker Club, for providing us with their facilities during the weekend.
