Hanssens Earns Crucible Debut with European Seniors Crown

Kevin Hanssens defeated Wayne Brown 5-4 to win the 2026 European Billiards & Snooker Association (EBSA) European Seniors Snooker Championship title and earn a debut at the Crucible Theatre.

The Belgian, who has won his national championship on a record seven occasions, won through the field of 57 cueists in Sofia, Bulgaria to fulfill a lifelong ambition of competing at snooker’s most famous venue in the 2027 World Seniors Snooker Championship next May.

After advancing through the group stages without the loss of a frame, Hanssens then bested Benny O’Brien and David Donovan each by a 4-1 scoreline to reach the semi-final stage – notably scoring the tournament high break of 127 in the match-winning frame against Donovan.

Former professional Brendan O’Donoghue, from Ireland, awaited in the semi-finals but he proved no match with the relentless Belgian who opened with a break of 62 and raced to a third consecutive 4-1 victory to earn a place in the title match.

England’s Brown had lost just three frames in the knockout stages as he advanced to the final, last beating Malta’s Philip Ciantar 4-0 in the semi-finals.

Breaks of 65 and 42 gave Brown an early 2-0 advantage in the race to five frames against Hanssens, before the Belgian rallied with a pair of breaks over 40 of his own to move ahead for the first time at 3-2.

It was a final that felt destined to go all the way and this is how it proved to be when Hanssens took frame eight to restore parity once more. The Belgian then held his nerve at the decisive moment as a contribution of 51 was enough to earn him the title and a place in Sheffield.