Champions Crowned as Wilson Interiors Hull Open Celebrates Tenth Anniversary
The Wilson Interiors Hull Open celebrated its tenth anniversary last weekend as nine champions were crowned at the Tradewell Snooker Club in Hull, England.
The event, which was first staged in 2016, saw 77 players from six countries competing for glory in East Yorkshire as new champions were crowned and old rivalries renewed.
Read about how the action in each group unfolded below:
ABUBAKER WINS WHEELCHAIR GROUP
Mahomed Abubaker beat Tony Southern in the Group 1+2 final to defend the title he won 12 months ago.
The cueist from India finished first in his group with five wins from six – losing only to reigning Group 1 world champion Gary Swift, who made history in this stage by compiling a break of 59, the highest ever scored in a WDBS wheelchair competition.
A 2-0 defeat of Jerry McFarlane earned Abubaker his place in the final, while world number two Southern joined him after he overcame Swift by the same scoreline in the other semi-final.
Southern took the first and third frames to move within one frame of victory and he had a golden chance to seal the title in frame four before Abubaker was able to force a decider on the colours.
The 61-year-old then secured the fifth ranking event title of his career and the first since last year’s victory in Hull by winning the decisive fifth frame.
COTON CAPTURES HULL TITLE
Nigel Coton won his first ranking event in over two years by dominantly defeating Kal Mattu 4-0 in the Group 3 final.
The 63-year-old last earned a gold medal at the British Open in January 2024 and was looking to go one better than last year’s trip to the Tradewell Snooker Club where he lost out in the final to Ireland’s Daniel Kelly.
A dramatic 3-2 victory over fellow Englishman Joe Hardstaff in the group stages was enough to earn a title match meeting with Mattu.
Mattu had defeated Coton 3-2 in the opening round to top the group, despite Coton scoring the Group 3 event high break of 36 during the contest.
However, it was a different story in the best-of-seven frame final as Coton took the opening two frames comfortably before holding his nerve in two closely-contested frames to complete a 4-0 victory and win the Wilson Interiors Hull Open for the first time since 2022.
GIBSON REGAINS HOME TITLE
Carl Gibson returned to the top of the podium at his home tournament by coming from 2-0 behind to defeat David Church 3-2.
Gibson, from Hull, arrived at the Wilson Interiors Hull Open aiming to regain the title that he had previously won in 2024 on the same weekend he moved to the summit of the Group 4 rankings for the first time in his career.
The 53-year-old earned a clean sweep of group stage victories before downing former World Snooker Tour world number eight Dean Reynolds 2-0 in the quarter-finals.
A 3-1 defeat of Lee Overton, who had ended the run of defending champion William Thomson in the previous round, saw Gibson set up a final meeting with long-time rival Church.
Gibson was looking for revenge on Church, who had beaten him in last year’s Wilson Interiors Hull Open at the semi-final stage. However, it looked like it would be the same outcome again at the Tradewell Snooker Club when Church raced into a 2-0 lead with a break of 41.
The Hull cueist held his nerve, however, to force a decider by taking the fourth frame on the colours before getting over the line in the next to secure his 13th WDBS title.
BOLTON EARNS HULL HAT-TRICK
Dave Bolton made it three consecutive Wilson Interiors Hull Open crowns by demolishing David Moritz 3-0 in the final of the Group 5 competition.
Bolton, who conceded just three points in the title match, moves to 16 WDBS titles – now just two behind the all-time record holder Daniel Blunn.
The runaway world number one lost just a single frame over the weekend as he topped the group with four victories before whitewashing Wales’ Nathan Collings in the semi-finals.
Moritz, aged 56, had reached his second WDBS event final by beating world number two Dalton Lawrence in the semi-finals but he was unable to stop the dominant form of Bolton in the title match.
Bolton took the opener by a 77-1 scoreline before firing in breaks of 33, 57 and 37 in the next two frames to complete the victory.
CROOKES WINS MAIDEN CROWN
Dominic Crookes won his first WDBS title after defeating Aidan Pollitt 3-0 in the Group 6A final at the Tradewell Snooker Club.
The final saw two players vying for their first victory on the WDBS Tour after each had eliminated one of the dominant top two players in the world rankings earlier in the event.
Competing in only his third WDBS event, Crookes topped his group before beating Niall Pollitt 2-1 in the quarter-finals.
World number two and 10-time event winner Alan Reynolds looked to be a major challenge for Crookes in the last four, but he raced into a 2-0 lead before keeping his composure in a deciding frame to set up a title match meeting with A. Pollitt.
Ireland’s A. Pollitt had made it consecutive ranking event finals with an impressive run that had seen him down world number one Mohammed Faisal Butt (2-1) in the quarter-finals before defeating Michael Busst in a semi-final deciding frame.
It was Crookes’ moment, however, as he took a nervy opening frame of the final on the black before settling down to complete a 3-0 victory and take home the gold medal.
MASTERCLASS FROM MATIN
Reece Matin came from 2-0 behind to defeat Leroy Williams in the Group 6B final of the 2026 Wilson Interiors Hull Open.
The 22-year-old, who is a newcomer to the WDBS Tour this season, continued his excellent start as he maintained his 100% record of reaching at least the final of each event he has competed in and lifted a second title.
Matin topped his group without dropping a single frame, hitting the Group 6B highest break of 55 in the process, and continued this dominant form to storm to the title match with defeats of James Lodge (2-0) and Ryan Pinnington (3-0).
In the final he faced 15-time WDBS event winner Williams, who kicked off with a break of 39 before moving to within one frame of victory by taking the second.
Matin, who is the reigning UK Disability champion, reduced the deficit with a contribution of 35 in the third and then took the next two frames to complete the comeback victory.
O’BRIEN ON TOP IN GROUP 7
Ireland’s Colvin O’Brien defeated Mike Gillespie 3-2 at the Tradewell Snooker Club to win his first WDBS ranking event title in 14 months.
The 40-year-old showed why his the world number one ranked player in the visual Group 7 classification as he topped an initial group phase that also featured Gillespie, 82-year-old Ronnie Allen, Ray Marsland and Gary Gallacher.
An opening frame contribution of 36 helped O’Brien comfortably past Marsland in the semi-finals to set up a meeting with world number two Gillespie.
The title match was a hard-fought contest with three of the opening four frames being settled by 10 points or less.
O’Brien’s class showed when it mattered the most and he fired in a break of 42 to ultimately take the victory in East Yorkshire.
DEVASTATING DRENNAN DEFENDS
Luke Drennan successfully defended the Wilson Interiors Hull Open title by defeating long-time rival Lewis Knowles in a dramatic deciding frame.
The 27-year-old showed devastating scoring prowess across the weekend, scoring the two highest breaks of the entire event – 63 and 62 – in the group stages.
After topping the seven-player group with a clean sweep of victories and just a single frame lost, Drennan continued his fine form by whitewashing Daniel Booth on Sunday to reach the final.
The top two ranked players in the deaf Group 8 classification met in the title match as Drennan faced Lewis Knowles in a best-of-five frame contest.
It was a closely contested match with neither player ever moving more than a single frame ahead as the title inevitably came down to a decider – and it was Drennan who held himself together to complete a pressure clearance and secure his eighth ranking event title.
BRAVE BRASIER IS CHAMPION
There was a popular victory for England’s Nigel Brasier in the Challenge Cup as he earned a maiden gold medal in WDBS competition eight years after making his Tour debut.
The 56-year-old, known as ‘The Brave’, had been defeated in each of his previous eight WDBS finals across Main and Challenge Cup competitions but finally put an end to the streak by defeating Steve Cartwright 2-1 in the title match at the Tradewell Snooker Club.
Brasier, who first competed at the 2018 Open Disability Championship, failed to advance from the Group 4 event but bounced back on Sunday to defeat Robert Cooper, Dylan Smith, Gary Protano and Jonathan Steggles en route to the final.
There he met fellow Group 4 cueist and three-time Challenge Cup event winner Cartwright, who had last beaten Oliver Hanson to reach this stage.
It was finally Brasier’s day as he took the opening frame of the best-of-three final before getting over the line in a tense decider by a 53-26 scoreline.
WDBS would like to thank Wilson Interiors, the Tradewell Snooker Club and all the officials and players who made the 2026 Hull Open a success.
The next event is the 2026 World Disability Snooker Championship in Thailand on 17-21 June. Entry details.
