Jackson Page Defends European Under-18 Crown

Jackson Page defended the European Under-18 Championship on Monday after a 5-3 victory over Florian Nüßle in Sofia.

The Welshman compiled breaks of 96, 84, and 63 to prevail in a close affair and reign supreme in the underage category for the second time in succession.

Page’s run to the final actually represented the third straight year that he has reached that far, again highlighting the 16 year-old’s already well-documented pedigree in the sport.

With a run of 102 in the round-robin phase, Page also hit the highest break of the tournament alongside Hamim Hussain and he’ll be brimming full of confidence as he proceeds to take part in the more prestigious European Under-21 Championship this week in Bulgaria.

Page almost achieved the unique double of junior events last year only to narrowly fall short in an agonising defeat to Alexander Ursenbacher in the final of the under-21s.

As a result of the U-18 triumph, Page will gain an invitation, like in 2017, to compete in the World Championship with three qualifying rounds standing in his way of a dream berth at the Crucible.

Meanwhile, Ross Bulman performed the best of the Irish in the Under-18 Championship, losing out to eventual runner-up Nüßle from Austria in the last eight.

The young Cork cueist will next turn his attention to the Under-21 tournament as well, with Aaron Hill, Aaron Holland, Ronan Whyte, and the in-form Stephen Bateman in action for Ireland too.

The main event of the European Men’s Championship gets under way on Friday.

Click here for more information on the U-21s, which is currently in progress.