147academy player Josh Boileau from Ireland won the 2016 EBSA European Under 21 Snooker Championship in Wroclaw Poland. Josh played fantastic snooker all week and in the final he beat Brandan Sargent from England 6 frames to 1 in front of a packed audience.
Josh also won the highest break prize with a stunning 130 break in frame 5 of the final.
In the semi-finals Josh had to come back from 3-4 down to beat Joe O Connor from England 5 frames to 4 in a 5hr thriller.
In the final the Irishman went 1-0 up only for Sargent to level at 1-1 but the Irish champion who was playing in his third major International final went into overdrive to win the next five frames and follow in the footsteps of the only ever Irish winner TJ Dowling who had won this European Junior title.
The 2016 EBSA Under 21 Snooker Championships
Josh won all his group matches with victories over Sybren Sokolowsk from Belgium, Rhys Thomas from Wales, Morgan Högren from Sweden and Mikhail Terekhov from Russia. Josh was seeded at No.7 in the knock out draw.
Last 32
Josh beat Patryk Masłowski from Poland 4 frames to 1.
Last 16
Josh beat Alexander Ursenbacher from Switzerland 4 frames to 3.
Q-Final
Josh beat Andres Petrov from Estonia 5 frames to 2.
Semi Final
Josh beat Joseph O Connor from England 5 frames to 4.
Final
Josh beat Brandan Sargent from England 6 frames to 1.
Main Tour Ticket
Following his victory Josh was awarded a 2 year WSA professional tour ticket where he will play against players such as O’Sullivan, Higgins, Trump and others next season. It was a long journey that started when Josh aged 12yrs old joined my academy and he now will start his pro career next season and I could not be more proud.
Well done to my Irish players
All the Irish players were superb with Charlie Sweeney (Last 16 – U-21), Adam Fitzgerald (Last 32 – U-21), Noel Landers (Last 32 – U-18), Fergal Quinn (Last 16 – U-18), Darragh Cusack (Last 32 – U-18) and Ross Bulman (Semi Final -U-18). They all should be very proud of themselves as they played great snooker and i am so proud. All the players are under age for the next 3-5 years.
My two youngest 147academy players aged only 14yrs old also performed excellent in the European Under 18 Championship when Ross Bulman from Ireland who was playing in his first International reached the semi-final stage while Austrian Florian Nüßle made it to the last 16 so the future is looking great in the academy.
Good Luck
Finally my 147Academy would like to wish Josh good luck on the main tour next season and i know he will prepare and give it 100%. It was a pleasure helping you lift this European U-21 title because i know how much you wanted it and i am very excited to work with you now the main tour against the world top players. Well done mate !!!!!!!!
On a personal note I have now coached players and teams to win five different EBSA Snooker Championships. It was an honour to work with you all and i will work harder to help my academy players win more major titles in the future.
Poland 2016 – European Under 21 Champion – Josh Boileau
Malta 2015 – European Men’s Team – Robert Murphy & Michael Judge
Bulgaria 2014 – European Masters Champion – Mark Tuite
Serbia 2013 – European Masters Team – Mark Tuite & Anthony Bonnar
Belgium 2009 – European Men’s Champion – David Hogan
