History Made in Sofia as Eight Champions Crowned at European Disability Snooker Championship
A Day to Remember in Bulgaria
There are days in sport that quietly rewrite the record books, and Thursday in Sofia was one of them. At the third European Disability Snooker Championship — staged alongside the 2026 EBSA Championships in the Bulgarian capital — eight players lifted titles, two nations celebrated their first ever European champions, and one man completed a feat that no one in the history of the event had managed before. Forty-five competitors from eleven countries had made the journey to Sofia, and by the time the final frames were potted, the occasion had delivered everything that makes this sport, at every level, worth watching.
Beaumont Completes the Treble
If you needed a single image to capture the day, it would probably be Dave Beaumont — composed, unhurried, unstoppable. The world number one in the Group 1+2 wheelchair classification defeated Tony Southern 3-0 in the final to complete an historic hat-trick, becoming the only player ever to win the European Disability Snooker Championship three times. More remarkable still, he and Southern have contested every single final since the event was founded in 2024. This was their third meeting at that stage, and Beaumont's third victory.
What made his week in Sofia particularly striking was the manner of it. Beaumont did not drop a single frame throughout the entire competition. In the group stage, he posted whitewash wins over Southern, Matthew Lester and Nathan Williams before carrying that imperious form into the knockout rounds. Southern, who came into the final as defending champion, had no answer. When the match was over, Beaumont had equalled the all-time WDBS title record — a statistic that speaks to just how dominant a force he has become in disability snooker.
Poland's Wilk Makes History
While Beaumont was cementing his legacy, Adam Wilk was busy writing the first chapter of someone else's. The 37-year-old became the first ever European Disability Snooker champion from Poland after a composed 3-1 victory over Andy Lam of Hong Kong China in the Group 3 final — a result that also denied Lam a hat-trick of European crowns of his own.
It was a result with an extra layer of narrative behind it. Earlier in the week, Wilk had led Lam 2-0 in their group stage encounter, only for Lam to fight back and take it in the deciding frame. Thursday's final was a chance for revenge, and Wilk took it emphatically — winning three consecutive frames to seal the title. His route to the final had already been impressive, beginning with a 3-0 victory over fellow Pole Marcin Kostera in the semi-finals. Wilk arrived in Sofia having won gold at the recent World Abilitysport Guttman Games, and he left as a European champion. Not a bad week's work.
Ireland also opened their account at this level, with their own first-time European champion crowned on the same afternoon — another landmark moment in what is becoming an increasingly competitive and globally diverse event.
Gibson's Class and Buskin's Promise
Carl Gibson added a second European title to his collection with a 3-0 victory in the final, but the story of his week cannot be told without first acknowledging the teenager who stood across the table from him. Sixteen-year-old Archie Buskin became the youngest finalist in the history of the European Disability Snooker Championship — a distinction he earned by defeating World Championship finalist Yannick Piscador in the semi-finals. That result alone would have been headline news on any other day.
Gibson, though, was not to be denied. The world number one in his classification produced snooker of real quality throughout the week, losing only a single frame across all of his matches. In the final, breaks of 45 and 43 underlined his authority as he swept past Buskin to regain the crown he had previously won. His path to the title match had included a 3-0 victory over compatriot Andy Johnson — who had come through a dramatic black ball shoot-out against Muhammad Ali to reach the knockouts — before further wins over Cartwright and, ultimately, Buskin.
A Championship Growing in Stature
Only in its third year, the European Disability Snooker Championship is already producing the kind of moments that demand to be talked about. Hat-tricks. Teenage finalists. First-ever national champions. Records equalled. The 45 players who competed in Sofia this week did so with the intensity and dedication of athletes at the top of their game — because that is precisely what they are. The sport is richer for their presence, and Sofia 2026 will be remembered as the week that proved it beyond any doubt.
