Harvey Chandler has won the EBSA European Championship in Bulgaria after a 7-2 victory over Jordan Brown on Friday.
The Englishman prevailed in a low-scoring showdown to claim the prestigious amateur title in Sofia.
With the success, Chandler will gain an invitation to compete on the professional Main Tour.
The 22 year-old wasn’t one of the most talked about contenders before the event began a week ago but, after qualifying from the Round Robin phase as the fifth seed, was duly in terrific form throughout the knockout stages.
Indeed, Chandler was rarely troubled in any of his fixtures, dominating his affairs with one-sided scorelines.
That kind of form repeated itself in the final as Chandler took the opening five frames against Brown with a high break of 62.
His Northern Irish opponent briefly rallied to pull the arrears back to just three but Chandler won a close eighth frame to take him to the brink of glory before he superbly sealed the deal with a run of 85 in the last.
Chandler will now be expected to join the pro ranks with a two-year card awarded as part of his triumph.
The likes of recent Masters champion Mark Allen and Belgian hotshot Luca Brecel are previous winners of the European Championship and have since gone on to register great success in the higher echelons.
Chandler has it all to look forward to but, for now, he can accept the plaudits for being the continent’s top prospect.
Ireland’s Brendan O’Donoghue fell short despite a spirited performance that included standout defeats of Welsh pair Andrew Pagett and Darren Morgan.
The reigning Irish national champion ran out of steam in the last four when he fell to eventual runner-up Brown.
