Champions were crowned across eight classification groups at the 2025 UK Disability Snooker Championship last weekend in Leeds, England.
First staged in 2015, the longest-running event on the WDBS Tour saw 59 players from five countries embark on the Northern Snooker Centre which hosted the prestigious competition for the first time.
A memorable three days in West Yorkshire saw new champions crowned, titles successfully defended and records broken. Read about how the action in each group unfolded below:
Beaumont Goes Back-To-Back
Dave Beaumont defeated Mahomed Abubaker 3-0 in the Group 1+2 final to successfully defend the UK Disability Snooker Championship title.
The Englishman continued his dominance in the wheelchair classification group as he came through a field of eight cueists and dropped just two frames across the weekend.
Wins against Gary Swift, Matthew Lester and WDBS Tour debutant Jerry McFarlane saw Beaumont into the semi-finals where he then defeated former world number one Tony Southern 3-1.
India’s Abubaker was the opponent in the title match after he had impressively whitewashed reigning world champion Swift in the last four.
The 60-year-old proved no match for Beaumont in the final, however, as the Englishman took the second frame with a break of 32 before completing the job in the next to win the title.
Kelly is UK King Again
Daniel Kelly overcame Peter Hull 3-1 to win the Group 3 classification at the UK Disability Snooker Championship for a second successive year.
The Irishman reached the final of the prestigious event for the third year in a row and was once again able to take the gold medal home.
Victories over world number one Kal Mattu and former ranking event winner Nigel Coton were enough to see Kelly through to a final meeting with group winner Hull.
Hull, who celebrated his 39th birthday on the day of the final, had whitewashed Kelly in their group stage meeting and was able to level the title match at 1-1.
From there, however, Kelly pulled away and secured the title by taking the fourth frame by a 71-33 scoreline.
Maiden UK Glory for Gibson
Carl Gibson won the UK Disability Snooker Championship title for the first time in his career by defeating William Thomson 3-1 in the Group 4 final.
Having fallen at the final hurdle last year, the reigning world champion was able to add another prestigious title to his CV as he came through a strong seven-player field in Leeds.
Gibson dropped just a single frame in the group stage has he picked up a clean sweep of six wins to book his place in the semi-finals alongside Thomson, Archie Buskin and Daniel Blunn.
The concluding Sunday began with Gibson and World Snooker Tour Hall of Fame inductee Blunn contesting their last four match on the main table at the Northern Snooker Centre.
Blunn had shown some fine glimpses of form during the event, compiling his highest ever break of 77 at a WDBS event during the group stages, but he proved no match for Gibson on this occasion as the 53-year-old completed a whitewash win.
It was England versus Scotland in the title match as Gibson faced Thomson and the Englishman made an outstanding start as he fired in a break of 73 to take an early lead.
Thomson was able to restore parity at 1-1 but Gibson quickly regained his lead before completing victory with the help of a 32 break in the decisive fourth frame.
Bolton Wins Lucky Number 13
Dave Bolton overcame David Moritz 3-1 in the Group 5 final to win the 13th WDBS event title of his career at the Northern Snooker Centre.
The runaway world number one was not at his blistering best across the weekend, scoring a top break of just 38, but he did enough to come through the four-player field and take home another gold medal.
Three wins from three in the group stage over Moritz, Dalton Lawrence and Jason Ellis was enough for Bolton to set up a title match with England’s Moritz on the main table.
Both players struggled for rhythm in the early stages of the final but it was Bolton who showed his experience to move 2-0 ahead.
Moritz, who was competing in his first WDBS event final, pulled one back by taking frame three by a 57-34 scoreline. Bolton found some form at the right time, however, to hit a break of 38 which ultimately helped him over the line.
Reynolds Completes UK Hat-Trick
Alan Reynolds made it a magnificent 10 WDBS event titles by beating long-time rival Mohammed Faisal Butt in the Group 6A final in Leeds.
The Scotsman was made to work hard for his third consecutive UK Disability Snooker Championship title by coming through deciding frames in both the semi-finals and the final at the Northern Snooker Centre.
A comfortable group stage performance saw Reynolds lose just a single frame as he defeated English National champion Robert Cooper, WDBS Tour debutant Riley Frampton and Alan Archer to finish in top spot.
Reigning Hull Open champion Ryan Ryding gave Reynolds a scare in the last four as he led 2-0 in a race to three. Reynolds hit back, however, taking the next two frames to force a decider before getting over the line in the fifth.
The title match saw the top two ranked players in Group 6A go head-to-head once again as Reynolds faced Butt for the title.
This time, it was Reynolds who led 2-0 before his opponent fought back to force a nervy decider in West Yorkshire. The Scotsman was again able to hold his nerve though and completed a UK hat-trick by taking the fifth and final frame.
Debut Delight for Matin
Reece Matin earned the title at his maiden WDBS event by defeating Ryan Pinnington 3-2 in a memorable Group 6B final at the Northern Snooker Centre.
The 22-year-old took his classification group by storm as he beat each of the top five ranked players in Group 6B en route to glory.
Matin had impressed at the same venue during the previous month when he won the title at the EPSB English Disability Snooker Championship and he followed this up with an impressive display on his WDBS bow.
He topped his initial group, which featured former ranking event winners Christopher Goldsworthy and James Hart, to set up a quarter-final meeting with current world number one Matthew Haslam.
In a closely-fought contest, it was Matin who came through in a deciding frame before following this up with a 3-1 defeat of world number two Leroy Williams to reach the title match.
His final opponent was fellow countryman Pinnington, who battled through a monumental semi-final against Goldsworthy to reach the fourth WDBS ranking event final of his career.
The 27-year-old Pinnington made a strong start to the final by taking the opener and later moving one away from the title at 2-1 with help from a visit of 40.
Matin hit back, however, to force a decider on the main table at the Northern Snooker Centre and it was then that he found his best form as he fired in a Group 6B tournament high break for 70 to win the title.
Glory for Gillespie in Leeds
Mike Gillespie won his first UK Disability Snooker Championship title by defeating Paul Smith 3-1 in the Group 7 final.
The 64-year-old was the dominant force in the visual classification group across the weekend as he lost just one frame over his six matches.
Gillespie topped his group with a clean sweep of whitewash wins and his groups tournament high break of 57.
A 3-0 victory over Matthew Stera, who was competing for the first time in a WDBS event, then set up a title match meeting with Smith at the Northern Snooker Centre.
Back-to-back breaks of 34 put Gillespie on the brink of victory at 2-0 and, despite Smith winning a tight third frame, it was Gillespie who was able to take the next to secure his maiden UK crown.
Taylor On Top at Northern Snooker Centre
Gary Taylor secured his first WDBS title of 2025 by beating Lewis Knowles 3-1 in the Group 8 final at the Northern Snooker Centre.
Taylor came through a field of nine cueists in the deaf classification group to take home the gold medal.
Four wins from four in a group that also featured Knowles, Blake Munton, Nitesh Chavda and Jonathan Steggles saw Taylor comfortably into the semi-finals where he faced reigning European champion Luke Drennan.
A break of 30 in the second frame put Drennan on the verge of victory at 2-0 ahead but Taylor countered with a 30 break of his own to reduce the deficit before forcing a decider in the next.
The 57-year-found then found a break of 37 in the decider to set up a final contest against fellow former world number one Knowles.
Knowles took the opening frame of the final but breaks of 41 and 33 saw Taylor move one away from glory before he took frame four by a 70-32 scoreline to secure the title.
Booth Wins Challenge Cup Title
Daniel Booth defeated Dalton Lawrence 2-1 to win the Challenge Cup in Leeds.
The Challenge Cup saw cueists from all eight classification groups who did not qualify for the knockout stages compete for glory on the Sunday.
Group 8 player Booth overcame Shahab Siddiqui, Blake Munton and Matthew Lester in single-frame shootouts to reach the final where he faced Group 5’s Lawrence.
The two players shared the opening frames of the best-of-3 contest to set up a decider and it was Booth who hit a break of 30 at the vital moment to earn the victory.
The WDBS season continues with the European Disability Snooker Championship in Golem, Albania on 14-19 October. Entries close on 19 September – enter now!
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