Champions Crowned at The Cube UK Disability Snooker Championship
16/09/2024 18:07
Champions were crowned across eight classification groups at the 2024 The Cube UK Disability Snooker Championship at the Barratts Snooker Club in Northampton, England last weekend.
Over 80 players embarked on the Northamptonshire town for the second ranking event of the 2024/25 World Disability Billiards & Snooker (WDBS) season and a memorable weekend saw titles defended, new winners crowned and two players rise to the top of their classification's world ranking list for the very first time.
Read about how the action unfolded below.
Ranking Title Hat-Trick for Beaumont
Dave Beaumont won his third consecutive ranking event title after coming from 2-0 behind to defeat Gary Swift in the Group 1+2 final.
With no Group 1+2 event staged at last month's German Open, Beaumont's victory this weekend marks a third consecutive ranking event crown in his category for the 56-year-old following successes at both the Belgian Open and Hull Open at the end of last season.
Despite losing his initial match to Darren Taylor, Beaumont topped his four-player group courtesy of victories over Shahab Siddiqui and Craig Welsh to set up a semi-final contest against top-ranked Tony Southern.
The two English cueists registered a break of 30 each in the opening two frames, the joint-highest of the weekend from a wheelchair competitor, to set up a tense decider which was taken by Beaumont by a scoreline of 56-18.
World Abilitysport Games gold medalist Swift was the opponent in the title match, after he overcame Taylor 2-1 in the semi-final, and he then moved one frame away from glory by taking the first two frames of the best-of-five final contest.
However, Beaumont hit back to force a late night deciding frame before holding his nerve to get over the line and win The Cube UK Disability Snooker Championshiop for the first time.
Dominant Daniel Takes The Title
Ireland's Daniel Kelly whitewashed world number one Kal Mattu in the Group 3 final to win the third ranking event title of his career.
Kelly, who finished runner-up to Adam Wilk in the event last year, made a strong start to the weekend as he defeated both Kit Kennedy and Joe Hardstaff 2-0 to comfortably advance to the knockout stages.
In the the last four, he faced the 2019 UK Disability Snooker Championship winner Nigel Coton in closely contested semi-final which saw Kelly come from behind to book his place in the final with a 2-1 victory.
England's Mattu had topped his initial group with wins against Coton, Peter Hull and Australian WDBS debutant Dave Nicholson before defeating world number two Hardstaff to reach the title match.
But Kelly proved too strong on this occasion as a duo of 30 breaks helped him on his way to a 3-0 victory and the gold medal in Northampton.
Church Reaches Summit in Style
David Church is the new world number one in Group 4 after a stunning performance that saw him win the tournament without dropping a single frame at the Barratts Snooker Club.
Church arrived in Northampton knowing that the title would earn him the top spot in the world ranking list for the first time and he made a strong start to the weekend with whitewash victories over Oliver Guyan, Alex Hennebry and Steve Cartwright.
In a repeat of last month's German Open final, Church faced Nigel Brasier on Sunday morning in the quarter-finals and was once again the victor before beating Andy Johnson 2-0 to reach the final.
There he would face Carl Gibson, who had previously won every WDBS event in which he had competed in during 2024.
The 52-year-old had booked his place in the final by ousting hall-of-famer Daniel Blunn but, on this occasion, Church was a man on a mission as he took all three frames in the title match to secure back-to-back titles and leapfrog Gibson into top spot in the world ranking list.
Eight in a Row for Bolton
Dave Bolton's unstoppable form continued in Northampton as he defeated Dalton Lawrence 3-0 in the Group 5 to defend his UK Disability Snooker Championship crown.
The victory marks an eighth consecutive WDBS title for Bolton in a run that stretches back to last year's UK Disability Snooker Championship, where the current world number one made his debut on the tour.
Since then, he has lost just two matches in WDBS tournament play and showed no signs of being defeated in an initial group stage that saw him whitewash Jason Ellis, Gerdy Dupont and Maureen Rowland as he compiled a top break of 71.
Further victories to nil against Dave Waller and finally world number two Lawrence rounded off another impressive weekend from the English cueist as he added to his trophy cabinet and furthered his lead at the top of the world rankings.
Reynolds Defends UK Crown
Scotland's Alan Reynolds successfully defended his UK Disability Snooker Championship title by beating Mohammed Faisal Butt 3-2 in the Group 6A final.
Victory in the match between the group's most dominant ever competitors saw Reynolds win the ninth WDBS title of his career and secure back-to-back UK crowns.
The Scottish cueist did not drop a single frame en route to the final, overcoming Warren Ealy, Jason Clarke, Aidan Pollitt and Alan Archer in the group before whitewashing both tour debutant Jordan Fireson and Michael Farrell to reach the title match.
As is often the case, the meeting between Reynolds and Butt was a hard-fought contest in which neither player ever lead by more than a single frame as it went all the way to a decider. It was Reynolds, however, who was ultimately able to get over the line and earn the glory at the Barratts Snooker Club.
History for Haslam in Northampton
Matthew Haslam defeated Ryan Pinnington 3-0 in the Group 6B final to win his sixth WDBS title and move to the summit of the world rankings for the first time in his career.
Following a year of consistent form that has seen the 19-year-old Englishman win three WDBS events, Haslam has now overtaken Leroy Williams into top spot in the Group 6B world ranking list – ending a run of over four years at the top for Williams stretching back to the formation of the WDBS world rankings in April 2020.
A high break of 70 in the group stage saw Haslam set up a quarter-final meeting with Lee Hague, who he overcame 2-0 with the help from a first frame contribution of 52.
Top seed and defending champion Williams stood between Haslam and the title match, but the teenager showed his composure and ability to take the hard-fought match in a deciding frame before overcoming Pinnington in the final to claim a famous victory in Northampton.
Three of the Best for History-Maker O'Brien
Colvin O'Brien won the third WDBS ranking event title of his career by defeating Mike Gillespie 3-1 in the Group 7 final.
Ireland's O'Brien, who remains the only player in history to make a century break in a WDBS event, qualified from the group stage with victories over Paul Smith and Robert Craft to set up a semi-final meeting with fellow countryman Dylan Rees.
Rees had won the UK title twelve months ago and took the opening frame of the best-of-three semi-final contest, but O'Brien was able to hit back and take the match in a decider to reach his fifth WDBS ranking event final.
Top-ranked Gillespie was his opponent in the final after he beat Scotland's Gary Gallacher in the last four.
Gillespie took an early advantage in the title match by opening up a 1-0 lead before O'Brien restored parity with a break of 31. From there, O'Brien was the stronger competitor as he took the third frame comfortably and then secured victory in the fourth to take the glory.
Successful Defence from De Bruyn
Belgium's Kristof De Bruyn successfully defended the UK Disability Snooker Championship by defeating Dainton Barrass 3-1 in the Group 8 final.
The title is De Bruyn's third on the WDBS tour and ends a drought stretching back to the same event in 2023, when he also overcame Barrass in the title match.
The Belgian cueist made a strong start to the weekend by overcoming Aaron Dunford and Daniel Booth without dropping a frame to reach the knockout stages.
Victories against Lee Finbow and Gary Taylor on the final day then set up a repeat of last year's final against the 19-year-old Welshman
De Bruyn charged into a 2-0 lead in the best-of-five frame final before Barrass, playing in only his second ranking event final, reduced the deficit by taking the third. However, the Belgian ultimately proved too strong as he won the fourth frame to get over the line and take the title back to Belgium.
Allen Wins Challenge Cup
Group 7 player Ronnie Allen beat Peter Hull 2-1 in the final of the Challenge Cup to magnificently take home the title at the age of 81.
Allen, from Wales, competed in the Challenge Cup on the Sunday which sees players who do not reach the knockout stages battle it out for glory.
Victories over Ahmed Rohman, Tony Davies and James Lodge saw Allen set up a final meeting with Group 3 competitor Hull.
A tense best-of-three frame final came down the final balls of the last frame but it was Allen who was able to hold his nerve and win his second Challenge Cup crown.
WDBS would like to thank everyone from both the Barratts Snooker Club and our title sponsors The Cube Disability for their support with making the 2024 UK Disability Championship a success.
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