Brilliance in Bulgaria from European Disability Snooker Champions
Eight champions were crowned on Thursday at the third staging of the European Disability Snooker Championship in Sofia, Bulgaria.
Staged alongside the 2026 European Billiards & Snooker Association (EBSA) Championships, the event saw 45 players from 11 nations competing across eight classification groups.
History was made as the all-time WDBS title record was equalled, a memorable European hat-trick was completed, and the first ever European champions from Poland and Ireland were crowned on an unforgettable day in Sofia.
A Hat-Trick for Beaumont
Dave Beaumont completed an historic hat-trick in the European Championship by defeating Tony Southern 3-0 in the wheelchair final.
The two players have contested all three finals since the prestigious event began in 2024 and Beaumont continued his perfect record to become the only player in history to complete the European Disability Snooker Championship treble.
Beaumont, who is the world number one in Group 1+2, did not lose a frame throughout the competition and topped the group stage with whitewash wins over Southern, Matthew Lester and Nathan Williams.
His fine form continued on the final day as he proved to be too strong for Southern to successfully defend the title once more.
Wilk Wins Maiden European Crown
Adam Wilk is the first ever European Disability Snooker champion from Poland after beating Andy Lam 3-1 in the Group 3 final.
The 37-year-old denied Hong Kong China’s Lam a hat-trick of European crowns by coming from behind the defeat him in the title match.
Wilk, who won gold at the recent World Abilitysport Guttman Games, advanced to the final courtesy of a 3-0 victory over compatriot Marcin Kostera.
The Polish player had led Lam 2-0 in their group stage meeting before losing out in a deciding frame, but he was able to exact revenge on Thursday by winning three straight frames to complete the victory.
Glory for Gibson in Sofia
Carl Gibson became a two-time European champion by defeating the youngest finalist in the history of the prestigious event.
A memorable week for 16-year-old Archie Buskin saw him defeat the recent World Championship finalist Yannick Piscador in the semi-finals to make history as the youngest cueist to reach that stage of a European Disability Snooker Championship.
It was Gibson’s week, however, as he scored breaks of 45 and 43 in the title match en route to a 3-0 victory that saw him regain the crown.
The world number one lost just a single frame across the week as he topped his initial group to set up a quarter-final meeting with compatriot Andy Johnson.
Johnson had come through a black ball shoot out against Muhammad Ali earlier in the day to reach the knockout rounds but he was unable to deny Gibson, who ran out a 3-0 victor before defeating Cartwright and Buskin by the same scoreline to secure the 17th WDBS title of his career.
Bolton Equals Title Record
Dave Bolton fended off a Dalton Lawrence comeback to win the 18th WDBS title of his career – equalling the all-time record held by World Snooker Tour (WST) Hall of Fame inductee Daniel Blunn.
The 50-year-old runaway world number one in Group 5 did not lose a frame in the group stage and reached the title match with a 3-1 win over France’s Jose Moreno Lopez that featured two breaks over 30.
In a repeat of the 2024 final, Bolton faced Lawrence – a cueist he boasted a 25 to 1 head-to-head record against heading into Thursday’s title match in Sofia.
A break of 31 saw Bolton move into a 2-0 lead but the seemingly inevitable outcome looked in doubt when Lawrence rallied in impressive fashion to force a decider.
Bolton found his scoring form at the perfect moment, however, as a contribution of 41 helped him over the winning line to lift an historic 18th WDBS title.
Dominant Dane Retains
Denmark’s Nicklas Olsen continued his dominance of the Group 6A classification by retaining his European Championship title without the loss of a frame.
The 23-year-old, who was crowned world champion earlier this year in Thailand, topped the six-player group with a clean sweep of wins before whitewashing Ireland’s Shea Fell in the semi-finals.
It was a memorable week for the runner-up Niall Pollitt, from Ireland, as he reached his maiden WDBS final three years after making his debut at the 2023 Irish Open.
Pollitt earned his place in Thursday’s title match by defeating his twin brother Aidan in a dramatic deciding frame on the colours.
He proved no match for Olsen in the final though as the Danish cueist dominated the opening two frames before taking the third on the colours to make it three titles from three events contested on the WDBS Tour.
Haslam Hits Back
Matthew Haslam defeated reigning world champion James Hart 3-1 to win the European Championship for the second time.
The 21-year-old previously won the inaugural edition of the event in 2024 and battled through a strong six-player field to regain the crown in Sofia.
Four wins from five group outings was enough for Haslam to advance to the knockout stages and he then whitewashed compatriot James Lodge to set up a title match meeting with Hart.
Hart, who won the World Championship title in Thailand earlier this year, impressively beat Leroy Williams 3-0 in the semi-finals and levelled the final by taking the second frame.
A break of 34 in the third put Haslam back in the ascendency and he was able to complete the victory in the next to become a two-time European champion.
Rees Makes Irish History
Dylan Rees beat Bulgaria’s Nikolay Hristov 3-0 to become the first ever player from Ireland to win the European Disability Snooker Championship.
The Irishman is the only player from his country to have won the World Disability Snooker Championship and has now repeated the feat on the European stage.
Hristov made history of his own on home soil as a victory over Raymond Marsland was enough to make him the first player from Bulgaria to reach a WDBS event final.
It was Rees’ week, however, as he continued the fine form that had seen him win his group without dropping a frame by beating Hristov 3-0 in the title match.
Knowles Defends European Crown
Lewis Knowles successfully defended the European Championship title by beating former world champion Kristof De Bruyn 3-0 in the title match.
Knowles had earlier made the overall tournament high break of 71 in his semi-final win over Francis Coyle – which is also his best break in WDBS competition to date.
It was De Bruyn who had topped the initial group phase, defeating defending champion Knowles along the way, before the two earned victories over the Irish duo of Peter O’Neill and Coyle to earn a title rematch.
Thursday proved to be Knowles’ day, however, as he gained revenge on De Bruyn for the earlier defeat by running out a 3-0 victor when it mattered most.
Ali Wins Challenge Cup
Pakistan’s Muhammad Ali won the Challenge Cup competition for players who did not advance from the group stages by beating Gary Protano 2-1 in the final on Thursday.
Ali had narrowly missed out on the Group 4 knockout stages, losing out in a black ball shoot out to Andy Johnson after the two ended up with identical group stage records.
The 45-year-old bounced back to beat Max Waters, Marcin Kostera and Alex Hennebry in single-frame shoot outs for reach the final where he then overcame England’s Protano in a decider.
WDBS would like thank the EBSA and all the players and officials who helped to make the 2026 European Disability Snooker Championship a success. Congratulations to our eight champions!
