By Elliott West
Introduction
For a country that is traditionally known for its impressive architecture, chocolate, gastronomic cuisine and strong beers, Belgium has also been quietly having a mini snooker revolution. A snooker factory that first lit its flame in the 1980s when the likes of Alex Higgins and Dennis Taylor travelled to places like Ostend to compete in competitions such as the 1986 Belgian Classic. A tournament that was held at the Kursaal Casino and won by Terry Griffiths after he defeated Kirk Stevens 9-7 in the final and claimed a winner’s prize of £40,000.
Bigger and Better
If you go to Belgium, you will find a number of snooker clubs dotted around the country, examples being the European Snooker Club in Brussels, The Trickshot in Bruges and Arena in Ghent. Alongside these clubs are a number of influential tournaments. For the amateur circuit, there is the Belgian Amateur Championship, the highest-ranking amateur event in Belgium and first established in 1984. First won by Mario Lannoye, who would go to win six of the first eight championships and currently held by Kevin Hanssens.
With a well established Belgium Billiards and Snooker Association, the country has been able to cultivate players. Luca Brecel didn’t appear out of thin air, he first won the Belgian Amateur Championship, aged 14 in 2010, the youngest ever victory in this tournament. He follows in the footsteps of players such as the late Steve Lemmens, Patrick Delsemme, Bjorn Haneveer, Danny Lathouwers and Peter Bullen.
Luca Brecel is the man of the moment, producing recent excellent form, reaching the final of the UK Championship and going on to win the Scottish Open. Originally ranked 40th, this very talented player has now leapt back into the top 16. A great achievement for someone who had cue problems and suffered from a shoulder injury, depression and hyperventilation since he first won the China Championship back in 2017.
Luca is also accompanied by the very promising player, Ben Mertens. This 17-year-old from Wetteren, has already World Open Under-16 Snooker Championship in 2016, beating Aaron Hill 4-3 and most recently won the 2021 EBSA European Under-18 Snooker Championship, defeating Julian Leclercq by the same scoreline. A player who became the youngest ever person to win a match in the World Championship when he beat James Cahill in the first round in 2020.
Flying the Flag
Before the pandemic hit, Belgium was starting to have major interests from outside sources. In 2017, the country held its first major ranking event for 23 years when it held the European Masters in Lommel. Since then, there have also been stagings of the Belgian Open on the women’s tour and the well established Belgian National Snooker Championship. In unison with the massive fan base in the country created by snooker being shown on Eurosport, the future looks bright and it remains somewhere that is a dominant force in the European market. Somewhere that will produce future champions and referees, Olivier Marteel being a current example.
