Historic Clean Sweep: All Eight Champions Defend Titles at Landywood's Champion of Champions
Unprecedented Defending Sweep at the 2026 Champion of Champions
For the first time in the history of the Champion of Champions, all eight title holders successfully defended their crowns at Landywood Snooker Club in Walsall on 13th July 2026. Organised by World Disability Billiards and Snooker (WDBS) and contested under the auspices of the WPBSA, the event — played across physical, intellectual and sensory disability classifications — produced a remarkable weekend of snooker that underscored the growing consistency of elite-level disability competition. First staged in 2018, the Nick Oliver Trophy is awarded to the top performers across eight classification groups, with finalists qualifying on the basis of their Tour rankings over the preceding two years.
Groups 1–5: Physical Categories
Dave Beaumont opened proceedings in the Group 1+2 final with a commanding 6-1 victory over Tony Southern, replicating his scoreline from the previous year's final. The result carries significant historical weight: the 58-year-old becomes the first wheelchair user to lift the Champion of Champions title on more than one occasion, extending a flawless record at the event. Beaumont's dominance across the best-of-11 format left little room for debate.
The ambulant classification groups — Groups 3, 4 and 5 — each produced their own returning champions. Ireland's Daniel Kelly captured the Group 3 title for a second time, defeating first-time finalist Peter Hull 6-2 in a composed performance. Carl Gibson and Dave Bolton were the standout stories in Groups 4 and 5 respectively, both lifting the title for a third consecutive year — a feat that places them among the most decorated players in the event's short but increasingly distinguished history. Gibson defeated David Church 6-1, while Bolton edged Dalton Lawrence 6-2 to seal his hat-trick.
Group 6: Intellectual Disability
England's Mohamed Faisal Butt delivered the most one-sided result of the weekend in Group 6A, whitewashing Ireland's Aidan Pollitt 6-0 to retain the title he first won twelve months ago. Competing in his fifth Champion of Champions final, Butt showed the composure of a seasoned performer against a debutant opponent, completing the match without dropping a frame. The result continues a pattern of England's strength in the intellectual disability category.
Group 6B produced an equally emphatic scoreline. Matthew Haslam defeated Leroy Williams 6-0 to claim the title for a third successive year, becoming one of a select group to achieve that milestone at Landywood. The 21-year-old's performance was underpinned by breaks of 55, 43 and 41 — a consistent scoring display that reflects both his technical development and the competitive ceiling he has set within his classification group.
Groups 7–8: Sensory Disability
Dylan Rees sealed arguably the most complete individual achievement of the weekend in Group 7. His 6-3 victory over compatriot Colvin O'Brien completed a hat-trick of Champion of Champions titles — and when combined with world championship victories in both 2025 and 2026, it completes what the WDBS has referred to as a double double: back-to-back titles at the sport's two most prestigious disability snooker events. Few players in any category of the game can point to a run of sustained excellence across multiple seasons to match that record.
England's Luke Drennan rounded off the clean sweep in Group 8, defeating former champion Lewis Knowles 6-1 to lift the Nick Oliver Trophy for a second consecutive year. The comprehensive scoreline against an opponent with previous title-winning experience signals Drennan's firm establishment at the top of the sensory disability rankings.
A Weekend That Rewrites the Record Books
The collective achievement of eight successful title defences in a single edition of the Champion of Champions is without precedent at the event. While individual repeat wins had occurred in prior years, the full set of defences arriving simultaneously in 2026 speaks to a maturing competitive structure in which the strongest players are, by and large, maintaining their advantage across seasons. WDBS extended its thanks to Paul Lloyd and the team at Landywood Snooker Club for hosting the event, which will now head into the off-season before disability snooker's attention turns to the Tour's next campaign. For the eight champions who left Walsall with trophies, the 2025/26 season ended in the most emphatic terms possible.
