World Disability Snooker Day Celebrates 10 Years of WDBS
World Disability Snooker Day was staged on Wednesday 23 April in Sheffield during the 2025 Halo World Snooker Championship.
The annual occasion celebrated the upcoming 10-year anniversary of the formation of the World Disability Billiards & Snooker (WDBS) Tour, with a range of activities taking place on the day to raise awareness of disability snooker and the WDBS’ goal of restoring snooker to the Paralympic Games, as well as marking the incredible achievements of the players at the recent milestone World Disability Snooker Championship in Thailand earlier this year.
Seven players were invited along for the day. These included Daniel Blunn and Kal Mattu, who both competed in the first ever WDBS event in November 2015, as well as Dylan Rees, Colvin O’Brien, Dave Beaumont, Dave Bolton and William Thomson – who each earned medals during the historic maiden World Championship.
The day began inside the iconic Crucible Theatre where the players were introduced to the Sheffield crowd by MC Rob Walker ahead of the morning session of the Halo World Championship.
The players then headed to the Cue Zone in the Winter Garden to take part in activities hosted by WPBSA coaches which showcased their skills to the local crowd and the BBC cameras. During the afternoon, former world number 12 Mark Davis joined the players to compete in various challenges on the baize.
Sports broadcaster Abigail Davies was on hand to speak to World Snooker Tour (WST) Hall of Fame inductee Daniel Blunn and wheelchair tennis Paralympian Andy Lapthorne, who had enjoyed his first visit to the Crucible earlier in the day, for a live broadcast on the BBC.
The event concluded on Thursday morning, where the players and other WDBS guests were given the backstage VIP treatment at the Crucible prior to attending a session later in the day. The tour took them to the arena floor, provided a photo opportunity with the Halo World Championship trophy, a visit to the media centre and the chance to watch Mark Allen and Ben Woollaston in the practice room.
WDBS would like to thank everyone involved in making the 2025 World Disability Snooker Day a success.
