Dylan Emery is European Under-21 Snooker Champion

The young Welshman was in fine form throughout the week.

Dylan Emery has become the European under-21 snooker champion for 2021 after a 5-2 victory against Julien Leclercq in Portugal on Thursday.

The 20 year-old, a runner-up in the European Under-18 Championship in 2019, won all four of his initial round-robin fixtures to comfortable advance to the knockout stages.

After receiving a bye in the first knockout round as one of the top seeds, Emery narrowly avoided a scare in the last 32 when he just about held off the challenge of Daniel Sciborski, and he was again taken the distance in the last eight only to deny countryman Liam Davies with another tight 4-3 scoreline.

Emery’s semi-final affair was much more comprehensive as he hammered Poland’s Antoni Kowalski 4-0 to set up a final showdown against Leclercq.

The latter had already suffered disappointment in Albufeira having missed out on glory in the under-18 event on Monday to fellow Belgian Ben Mertens.

Unfortunately for the 18 year-old, it was to be another runner-up spot as he failed at the final hurdle for a second successive competition.

Emery won the first two frames and managed to buffer his lead until the end as he eventually completed the 5-2 success to become the European under-21 snooker champion.

Congratulations @Dylanemery147 😎 see you soon! 👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻 https://t.co/F5kPzegSN5

— jason ferguson (@jasonferguson5) October 7, 2021

The victory will also see him earn a potentially lucrative two-year tour card onto the professional circuit for the 2022/23 and 2023/2024 campaigns.

Emery becomes the sixth player from Wales to triumph in the continent’s most prestigious international junior tournament, emulating the likes of Michael White, Jamie Jones, and Jackson Page.

Next up in Portugal is the big one, with the European Men’s Snooker Championship taking place over the coming days and another two-year Main Tour card up for grabs.

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Featured photo credit: WSF