Eight titles will be decided at the European Disability Snooker Championship in Sofia on Thursday 24 September, with several finals carrying record, repeat-match and unbeaten-run significance.
The third staging of the event has brought together 45 players from 11 nations across eight classification groups. WPBSA reported that the championship finals will begin from 10:00 EEST after four days of competition in Bulgaria.
Dave Beaumont, Andy Lam, Carl Gibson and Dave Bolton are among the leading contenders pursuing notable milestones, while Denmark’s Nicklas Olsen remains unbeaten as he seeks to retain his crown.
Beaumont and Lam pursue third European crowns
Wheelchair world number one Beaumont will meet Tony Southern in the European final for the third successive year. Beaumont is aiming for a third European title and, according to WPBSA, has yet to lose a frame during this week’s tournament.
Beaumont holds an 18-2 overall head-to-head advantage against Southern. However, Southern’s latest victory over Beaumont came at last year’s European Championship, during the group stage, offering evidence that their record does not settle the outcome of the final.
Lam is the other player seeking a third European crown, having won the previous two editions. He faces Poland’s Adam Wilk, the recently crowned World Abilitysport Guttman Games gold medallist, in what WPBSA said will be their first meeting in a WDBS final.
Wilk has a 4-2 lead in their overall head-to-head record. Their group meeting in Sofia was closely contested: Wilk established a 2-0 advantage, including a break of 41, before Lam recovered to win in a deciding frame. The final therefore offers Lam a chance to extend his European run against an opponent who has held the stronger wider record between them.
Gibson, Bolton and Olsen face contrasting tests
Two-time world champion Gibson plays teenager Archie Buskin in the Group 4 final. Gibson, the 2024 European champion, has lost only one frame in Sofia and has won all five of his previous matches against Buskin.
Buskin nevertheless reached his first WDBS final after defeating 2026 World Championship runner-up Yannick Piscador in the semi-finals. WPBSA described Buskin as the youngest European Disability Snooker Championship finalist, making the match a test of Gibson’s established record against a player who has already produced a significant result this week.
Bolton can match Daniel Blunn’s all-time WDBS record of 18 titles by beating Dalton Lawrence. Bolton won this European title in 2024 and will face Lawrence in a repeat of that final, played in Albufeira, Portugal.
WPBSA said Bolton, the current world number one, leads Lawrence 25-1 in their head-to-head meetings. Lawrence’s sole win came on the European stage in 2025, while Bolton is attempting to regain the title and reach the record mark.
In Group 6B, defending champion Olsen plays Ireland’s Niall Pollitt. Olsen has reached the final without dropping a frame and has never failed to win a WDBS tournament he has entered, according to WPBSA. He also won his only previous meeting with Pollitt, 2-0, earlier in the week.
Pollitt, however, earned his place by beating his brother Aidan in a deciding-frame semi-final. The match will be his first WDBS final, three years after his debut event.
Remaining finals complete eight-group programme
Hart will face Haslam after beating former world number one Leroy Williams in the semi-finals. Haslam, the current world number one and 2024 European champion, holds an 11-3 head-to-head lead and has won both of their previous title-match meetings.
Reigning two-time world champion Dylan Rees meets Bulgarian debutant Nikolay Hristov in Group 7. Both are making their European Championship debuts and each is seeking to become the first winner from his nation; Rees won their Sofia group match 2-0 with a break of 46.
The deaf classification final pairs defending champion Lewis Knowles with Belgium’s Kristof De Bruyn. Knowles leads their WDBS series 7-4, but De Bruyn, the 2025 world champion, beat him in the group stage in Sofia.