Antoni Kowalski (born 9 February 2004) is a Polish professional snooker player. He has earned a two-year card on the World Snooker Tour from the 2024–25 snooker season. [1]

Antoni Kowalski
Born (2004-02-09) 9 February 2004 (age 20)
Zielona Góra
Sport country Poland
Professional2024–present
Highest ranking99 (July 2024)
Current ranking 99 (as of 16 July 2024)

Early life

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Kowalski is from Zielona Góra in Poland.[2]

Career

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In 2019, he won the World Open Under-16 Snooker Championships, defeating Hungarian Bulcsú Révész 4–2 in the final.[3][4] He became the first Polish player to win the title.[5]

In 2022, Kowalski was runner up to Liam Davies in the Under-18 and Under-21 categories at the IBSF World Snooker Championship.[6]

In January 2023, Kowalski defeated Mateusz Baranowski 5-2 in the final of the Polish Championship in Lublin. It was his second Polish national championship, having also won the title in 2021.[7]

2023-24 season

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In November 2023, Kowalski secured the biggest title of his career as he defeated Rory McLeod 5-3 in the final to win the Landywood Q Tour title.[8]

In January 2024, he defeated Baronowski in the final of the Polish national championship again, for his third national title.[9] In March 2024, he reached the final of the EBSA European Under-21 Snooker Championships where he lost to Liam Davies.[10]

2024-25 season

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He entered Q School in May 2024 and in the second event he progressed to the latter stages with wins over Jed Mann, and former professional James Cahill.[11] In the final round he faced Englishman Simon Blackwell and triumphed 4-1 to earn an assured two-year card on the World Snooker Tour.[12][13]

He began his pro career at the 2024 Championship League in Leicester in June 2024 with his results including a 2-2 draw with World Championship finalist Jak Jones in his round robin group.[14]

Performance and rankings timeline

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Tournament 2013/
14
2014/
15
2015/
16
2017/
18
2018/
19
2019/
20
2020/
21
2024/
25
Ranking[nb 1] [nb 2] [nb 2] [nb 2] [nb 2] [nb 2] [nb 2] [nb 2] [nb 3]
Ranking tournaments
Championship League Non-Ranking Event A RR
Xi'an Grand Prix Tournament Not Held
Saudi Arabia Masters Tournament Not Held
English Open Not Held A A A A
British Open Tournament Not Held
Wuhan Open Tournament Not Held
Northern Ireland Open Not Held A A A A
International Championship A A A A A A NH
UK Championship A A A A A A A
Shoot Out Non-Ranking A A A A
Scottish Open Not Held A A A A
German Masters A A A A A A A
Welsh Open A A A A A A A
World Open A Not Held A A A NH
World Grand Prix NH NR DNQ DNQ DNQ DNQ DNQ
Players Championship[nb 4] DNQ DNQ DNQ DNQ DNQ DNQ DNQ
Tour Championship Tournament Not Held DNQ DNQ DNQ
World Championship A A A A A LQ A
Former ranking tournaments
Paul Hunter Classic Minor-Ranking LQ LQ NR Not Held
European Masters Not Held A A A 2R NH
Performance Table Legend
LQ lost in the qualifying draw #R lost in the early rounds of the tournament
(WR = Wildcard round, RR = Round robin)
QF lost in the quarter-finals
SF lost in the semi-finals F lost in the final W won the tournament
DNQ did not qualify for the tournament A did not participate in the tournament WD withdrew from the tournament
NH / Not Held means an event was not held.
NR / Non-Ranking Event means an event is/was no longer a ranking event.
R / Ranking Event means an event is/was a ranking event.
MR / Minor-Ranking Event means an event is/was a minor-ranking event.
  1. ^ It shows the ranking at the beginning of the season
  2. ^ a b c d e f g He was an amateur
  3. ^ New players on the Main Tour don't have a ranking
  4. ^ The event was called the Players Tour Championship Grand Final (2013/2014–2015/2016)

Career finals

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Pro-am finals: 1

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Outcome No. Year Championship Opponent in the final Score
Runner-up 1. 2024 Belgian Open   Joe O'Connor 2–4

Amateur finals: 8 (5 titles)

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Outcome No. Year Championship Opponent in the final Score
Winner 1. 2019 World Open Under-16 Snooker Championships   Bulcsú Révész 4–2
Winner 2. 2020 Polish Amateur Championship   Mateusz Baranowski 6–4
Runner-up 1. 2022 IBSF World Under-18 Snooker Championship   Liam Davies 3–4
Runner-up 2. 2022 IBSF World Under-21 Snooker Championship   Liam Davies 1–5
Winner 3. 2023 Polish Amateur Championship (2)   Mateusz Baranowski 5–2
Winner 4. 2023 Q Tour – Event 4   Rory McLeod 5–3
Winner 5. 2024 Polish Amateur Championship (3)   Mateusz Baranowski 5–1
Runner-up 3. 2024 EBSA European Under-21 Snooker Championships   Liam Davies 3–5

References

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  1. ^ "Antoni Kowalski". Eurosport. Retrieved 18 March 2024.
  2. ^ Czykier, Mariusz (11 November 2023). "A GREAT SUCCESS FOR THE POLISH TEENAGER. A BIG STEP TOWARDS PROMOTION TO THE WORLD ELITE". Eurosport. Retrieved 18 March 2024.
  3. ^ "A rising star from Hungary: Bulcsú Révész". World Snooker Tour. 14 October 2022. Retrieved 18 March 2024.
  4. ^ Pathak, Vivek (24 August 2019). "Antoni Kowalski – Champion World Under-16 Boys Snooker". IBSF. Retrieved 18 March 2024.
  5. ^ Borek, David (26 August 2019). "Snooker. A great success for the Pole. Antoni Kowalski is the under-16 world champion". Sportowefakty.pl. Retrieved 18 March 2024.
  6. ^ "Liam creates history with the Hat-Trick of titles". ibsf.info. Retrieved 18 March 2024.
  7. ^ "Antek Kowalski returns to the throne. A snooker player from Zielona Góra is the Polish champion". Zielonagora.Wyborcza. 9 January 2023. Retrieved 18 March 2024.
  8. ^ "CHAMPION KOWALSKI CLAIMS LANDYWOOD Q TOUR TITLE". WPBSA. 12 November 2023. Retrieved 18 March 2024.
  9. ^ Kalisz, Sara (18 January 2024). "He won the Polish championship while working as... a courier". Sport.tvp.pl. Retrieved 18 March 2024.
  10. ^ "DAVIES WINS EUROPEAN UNDER-21 TITLE". wst.tv. 18 March 2024. Retrieved 31 May 2024.
  11. ^ "ADAM ABBAS, 11, SUFFERS DEFEAT TO SEAN O'SULLIVAN IN ROUND THREE OF Q SCHOOL EVENT 2 TO END FAIRYTALE RUN". Eurosport. 30 May 2024. Retrieved 31 May 2024.
  12. ^ "KOWALSKI BEATS CAHILL IN THRILLER". wst.tv. 31 May 2024. Retrieved 1 June 2024.
  13. ^ "AJAIB, KOWALSKI, MANN AND TOTTEN RUN Q SCHOOL GAUNTLET". Wpbsa. 1 June 2024. Retrieved 1 June 2024.
  14. ^ "MCGUIGAN MAKES FAST START TO PRO CAREER". wst.tv. 17 June 2024. Retrieved 17 June 2024.