Champions Crowned in Carlow!
The 2025 Irish Disability Snooker Open was successfully held at the SBI HQ in Carlow, Ireland with medals awarded across seven main classification groups.
Held at the Irish national academy for the third successive year, the world ranking event attracted a record entry of 48 players from seven countries for what was the final competition of the calendar year.
In the ambulant categories there were dominant victories for Ireland’s Daniel Kelly (Group 3) and English pair Carl Gibson (Group 4) and Dave Bolton (Group 5), with Kelly’s third successive victory on home soil enough to see him become the top ranked player in his group for the first time following the event.
Bolton rises to joint second place in the all-time WDBS winners list with 14 titles – level with Leroy Williams – while Gibson is just one behind on 13. Danie Blunn retains the outright lead with a record 18 crowns since 2015.
The Group 6 intellectual classification saw Ryan Ryding (Group 6A) claim his second career title following his Hull Open win back in May, while Matthew Haslam took his 11th crown to climb to sixth place on the all-time standings. There was some consolation for Group 6A runner-up Mohamed Faisal Butt, however, as he regains top spot in the rankings ahead of Alan Reynolds.
Ireland’s Dylan Rees (Group 7) claimed his second home crown in the visually impaired category with success against compatriot Colvin O’Brien, while Lewis Knowles (Group 8) claimed his eighth overall WDBS title against Luke Drennan, who will regain the number one ranking in the deaf classification.
Finally, there was victory for England’s Christopher Goldsworthy in the Challenge Cup, having received a walkover against Jose Moreno Lopez of France, who was unable to compete in the final.
WDBS would like to thank everyone involved in supporting the event, in particular Dylan Rees and the team at Snooker Billiards Ireland, without whom the staging of the event would not have been possible.
Further information about the 2026 WDBS Tour calendar will be announced in due course.
