Sofia 2026 was another fantastic European Championships - European Billiards & Snooker Association

September certainly was a month to remember on the EBSA Annual calendar as the European Snooker Championships returned to Bulgaria and these championships would be one to remember on and off the Xing Pai tables.

Our Sincere thanks for the Excellent Sponsorship we receive from Xing Pai who provide the World’s number one table and we are proud to be associated with this incredible company.

The event itself was full of magnificent Snooker and the first European Title went to Rebecca Kenna as the 2024 European Champion defeated her fellow English player Tessa Davidson 4-1 to regain the European Title in what was a very good final full of top quality play.he Womanss Championship saw the remergence of a lot of Irish players which saw Paula Judge make it to the semi final along with the talented French player Ophelie Laval also making it to the last four.

This year the Championship saw the start of a brand new event the ‘Super Seniors’ which had a large entry and was certainly a huge hit as the players embraced this new European event. The man who has so many European Titles Darren Morgan won the innaugural Super Seniors title to add to all his great victories defeating Rene Hemelsoet in the final 5-0.

The one consitent thing that the players said was that the Xing Pai tables were magnificent and perfect to play on.

Wales player David Hooper and Irelands Paudie Kelly won Bronze Medals in what was a great tournament and the most remarkable fact about this event is that the European Champion Darren Morgan lost his cue on his flight to Sofia and he had to borrow no less than six different cues during thechampionship, but still came out on top, a remarkable achievement.

Off the Xing Pai tables there were some very positive developments for the EBSA. At the Annual General Meeting the EBSA elected a new Vice President Oleg Velinov, the President of the Bulgarian Snooker Federation who hosted the Championships is now a part of a very strong EBSA Team going forward.

EBSA President Maxime Cassis said “We are delighted to have Oleg as our new Vice President, he is a man devoted to Snooker and he is an excellent addition to the EBSA. Oleg is the Father of the game in Bulgaria, is well respected and know by many people and I am delighted that he is now the Vice President”.

Also off the Xing Pai tables the Minister of Youth and Sports, Encho Keryzov, met with Maxime Cassis, President of the European Billiards & Snooker Association (EBSA), to discuss the development of snooker in Bulgaria. The meeting was also attended by Oleg Velinov, President of the Bulgarian Snooker Federation and Vice-President of the European governing body.

During the meeting, there was discussions on how to further promote snooker in the country and attract more children and young people to the sport. Velinov presented the Bulgarian Snooker Federation’s plans to encourage youth participation through school-based initiatives, emphasizing that the sport fosters concentration, strategic thinking, precision, and self-discipline.

The conversation also addressed Bulgaria’s role in the advancement of snooker at the European level, with Maxime Cassis announcing that the EBSA headquarters is set to be relocated to Sofia.

Meanwhile back on the Xing Pai tables the championship continued!

In the teams championships there was yet another victory for England’s Rebecca Kenna and Tessa Davidson who were pushed all the way by the Fremch Team of Ophelie Laval and Due Va forcing the final down to a deciding frame.

In the Super Seniors Final it was an all Welsh affair with Darren Morgan and Brian Rees up against John Breeze and David Hooper. It was a tight final going to the deciding frame where Breeze and Hooper came out on top to record a famous victory.

Belgium has waited for this moment for so long in the Men’s Senior Final at long last a European Title for Kevin Hanssens which nobody would begrudge this long servant of the game. It was a classic match with England’s Wayne Brown controlling the early frames, but Kevin fought back as it went down to a nerve wracking deciding frame with Kevin getting across the line to seal the victory.

It was double deligh for Belgium as Alain Vandersteen and Peter Bullen defended thier Senior Men’s European title with yet another deciding frame victory of England’s Ian Martin and Wayne Brown.

The 6 Reds event was another cracker, with a huge entry and ended with a new name of the cup as Malta’s Aaron Busutil went on to claim the victory. Aaron also won the Q Tour European Event Number Two hosted by the EBSA in Sofia as well with a fantastic display of top class snooker on the table.

In the Men’s Team event victory and the Gold Medals went to Poland as Pawel Ragoz and Tomasz Skalski defeated Malta’s Chris Peplow and Aaron Busutil.

The remaining EBSA European Title up for grabs was the 2026 Shootout Title and this went to Scotland’s Dean Young who defeated Alfie Davies from Wales in the last frame in Sofia.

Finally the EBSA were proud to host the 3rd European Disability Snooker Championships and yet again the event was a huge sucess.

Brilliant Snooker was played in all the different catagories and it is a great honour for the EBSA to be involved in such a great Championship. Congratulations to all the winners and everyone who competed.

For all the information on the European Disability check out wdbs.info

Our thanks goes out to our fantastic Referees who as always went above and beyond the call of duty. Always impeccable in their apearance and masterful at the table.