European Disability Snooker Championship 2024 | Tournament Preview
The first ever European Disability Snooker Championship begins on Saturday 19 October with 40 players competing across seven classification groups.
The event will take place on 19-23 October at the Vidimar Hotel in Albufeira, Portugal and will run alongside the European Billiards & Snooker Association (EBSA) European Championships at the same venue.
Six nations will be represented in Portugal and the 40 cueists will each be aiming to become the maiden European champion in their classification group.
Each group will feature one large initial group phase, with those who finish in the top four qualifying for their respective semi-finals.
Group 1+2
Dave Beaumont arrives in Portugal as the in-form player from the wheelchair Group 1+2 classification having won the title in each of the last three ranking events.
Beaumont secured his maiden ranking crown earlier this year at the 2024 Belgian Open, defeating Kurt Deklerck in his home tournament, and has since gone on to make it three in a row by winning both the 2024 Hull Open and 2024 UK Disability Snooker Championship.
Tony Southern, the current world number one in Group 1+2, will also be among the favourites to take home the title.
Southern is now the only player to boast an unbroken stretch at the top of the WDBS world rankings since their formation in April 2020, after Matthew Haslam ended the run of Leroy Williams in Group 6B last month. He also won the prestigious Champion of Champions title for the first time in his career earlier this year.
Former ranking event winner and 2023 World Abilitysport Games gold medalist Gary Swift also features in a strong field, as do fellow English players Darren Taylor and Matthew ‘The Doncaster Destroyer’ Lester.
The line-up is completed by 63-year-old Kwok Ka Fai Simon from Hong Kong China, who is making his debut in a WDBS competition.
Group 3
Three nations are represented in the Group 3 event which is headlined by current world number one Kal Mattu.
The two-time ranking event winner will be looking to further his lead at the summit of the world rankings and will be boosted by the absence of both the world number two and three in Portugal.
World number four Kit Kennedy is the second-highest ranked Group 3 player at the European Disability Snooker Championship and will be hoping to secure a maiden ranking event crown in Albufeira, as will Group 3 newcomer Peter Hull who recently reached his first final at 2024 German Open.
Five-time ranking event winner Nigel Coton and former back-to-back UK Disability Snooker Championship winner Adam Wilk of Poland will be both arrive at the event with goals of adding to their trophy cabinet, while Andy Lam will be aiming for a first WDBS title since 2019.
Group 4
David Church will be aiming to continue the outstanding early-season form that has seen him rise to the summit of the Group 4 world rankings for the first time in his career.
Church secured back-to-back ranking event titles at the 2024 German Open and 2024 UK Disability Snooker Championship earlier this year to leapfrog Carl Gibson into top spot.
Gibson, who won the first four WDBS events of the year and also compiled a record break of 99 for an ambulant player in Hull, will be out for revenge in Albufeira as part of a strong line-up that also features World Snooker Tour (WST) Hall of Fame inductee and record 16-time WDBS event winner Daniel Blunn.
Multiple ranking event winners Steve Cartwright and Andy Johnson will also have high hopes of glory in Portugal, as will Nigel Brasier – who has reached two of the last three ranking event finals in Group 4.
Completing the line-up is world number ten Alex Hennebry, who is one of five players from the Republic of Ireland competing in the European Disability Snooker Championship.
Group 5
The seemingly unstoppable Dave Bolton will be aiming to win a ninth consecutive WDBS title in Portugal and further extend his position as the world’s number one player in Group 5.
A relentless run from Bolton has seen him secure titles in England, Germany and Belgium over the last 13 months, losing only twice, and he will arrive in Portugal as a strong favourite for another title.
Two-time ranking event winner Dalton Lawrence is perhaps the most likely player to deny Bolton, having reached each of the last four WDBS finals and pushing him all the way to a deciding frame at August’s German Open.
Former Hull Open champion Gerdy Dupont will also be looking to add to his trophy cabinet as one of two Belgians at the event, while Dave Waller, Jason Ellis and Robert Marriott will each be looking to lift their first WDBS title.
Group 6
Matthew Haslam arrives in Portugal as the in-form player in Group 6B and will be looking to continue that winning run in the combined Group 6 event.
The 19-year-old has won the last three WDBS events and overtook Leroy Williams into top spot in the world rankings last month – ending the previously unbroken streak of Williams which stretched back to April 2020.
Williams will be more determined than ever to add to his 13 WDBS career titles next week as he aims to regain his position as the world’s number one player in Group 6B.
Group 6B’s world number four and reigning British Open champion James Hart is another strong contender in Albufeira, while Oliver Hanson, Lee Hague and James Lodge are each aiming to secure WDBS titles for the first time in their careers.
From Group 6A, brothers Aidan and Niall Pollitt will both be in action representing both the Republic of Ireland and their classification group.
Group 7-8
A combined total of 19 WDBS titles have been won by competitors in a Group 7-8 event that is nearly impossible to predict.
Each of the world’s top four players from the deaf Group 8 classification will be in action in Portugal and Lewis Knowles, Kristof De Bruyn, Luke Drennan and Gary Taylor will each arrive at the event with realistic aspirations of adding to their trophy cabinets.
The absence of Group 7’s world number one Mike Gillespie means Ireland’s Colvin O’Brien, who compiled the first century break in WDBS competition earlier this year, has the chance to move into top spot for the first time in his career.
Meanwhile, 81-year-old Welshman Ronnie Allen and his fellow countryman Jonathan Steggles will each be looking to secure a WDBS title for the first time.
