Wendy Jans, Darren Morgan and Andres Petrov have all celebrated winning continental snooker titles at the EBSA European Amateur Snooker Championships over the past week at the Vidamar Hotel Resort in Albufeira, Portugal.
Jans claimed an incredible 13th European Women’s Championship. The Belgian topped her round robin group without dropping a frame and then defeated Ewelina Piślewska (Poland) 3-0, Emma Parker (England) 4-1 and Izabela Łącka (Poland) 4-1 in the knockout rounds to reach the final for an astonishing 20th time.
There, Jans faced championship debutant Jamie Hunter from England who likewise was undefeated on route and had lost just two frames in total. Hunter denied Russia’s Anastasia Nechaeva 4-1 in the last four.
However, the title would be a step too far for Hunter. The experienced 38-year-old Jans went into a 3-0 lead – and although the maiden finalist avoided a whitewash when claiming frame four with the aid of a 42 break – Jans sealed victory with frame five for a 4-1 success.
Former world professional number eight Morgan continues to dominate the European Seniors Championship scene – lifting the trophy for a sixth time in-a-row and an 11th time in total.
The 55-year-old Welshman – who earlier in the week made the semi-finals of the European Amateur Championship where he lost to eventual winner Oliver Brown – won all three of his group games to qualify for the knockout phase. Morgan then eliminated Andy Nettleton (Sweden) 3-0, Michael Philbin (Scotland) 4-1, Jani Kananen (Finland) 4-1 and Wayne Brown (England) 4-1 for yet another final appearance.
His opponent was the Republic of Ireland’s Frank Sarsfield who came back from 3-1 down to oust England’s David Brown 4-3 in the semi-finals. Morgan was in no mood to relinquish his title, though, as he ran out a 4-0 victor to take home the silverware yet again.
Last week, Petrov became the first Estonian to win a continental snooker title when he claimed the European 6 Reds Championship.
Runner-up in the main championship in 2017, the 25-year-old defeated opponents from Gibraltar, Turkey, England, Finland and Russia before seeing off Poland’s Paweł Rogoza 5-0 in the final.
Action in the Algarve will come to a close this weekend following the conclusion of the three team championship events.
For full results, please visit the European Billiards and Snooker Association’s website.