European Snooker Championship
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Kacper Filipiak Wins European Snooker Championship

Kacper Filipiak won the 2019 European Snooker Championship after a dramatic 5-4 victory over David Lilley in Israel on Saturday.

The Polish potter, who overcame Ireland’s Greg Casey in the last four, fought back from 4-3 down to prevail in a tense decider.

Filipiak generated headlines almost a decade ago when he captured the European Under-21 Championship as a mere 15 year-old.

The triumph resulted in a chastening debut season on the Main Tour that resulted in the teenager failing to live up to his early hype.

However, eight years on Filipiak has impressively added a second major international amateur title to his CV and, now 23, he will surely be better equipped to deal with the pressures of the professional circuit.

With his European Snooker Championship success, Filipiak is guaranteed a Main Tour spot for at least the next two campaigns.

Filipiak becomes the first player from Poland to win the European Snooker Championship and joins the likes of Mark Allen and Luca Brecel who have prevailed in the prestigious event in the past.

English 43 year-old Lilley was bidding to add a second European crown an astounding 24 years after he first etched his name onto the silverware in the mid-nineties.

The three-time English amateur champion couldn’t have come much closer, making a 51 break in the final frame shoot-out only to just fall short as his opponent cleared the colours to the blue for a famous victory.

A potential Main Tour place isn’t totally lost for Lilley, though, as he is still in the hunt to claim one of the coveted pair of tickets available through the inaugural Challenge Tour series.

Earlier in the European Championships at the U Magic Palace Hotel in Eilat, Cork’s Aaron Hill won the under-18 title while Welsh prodigy Jackson Page prevailed in the under-21 competition.

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  1. Pingback: Sargeant and Grace to Top Snooker's Challenge Tour - SnookerHQ

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