Iulian Boiko wins Poland Snooker Open title in bumper fifth edition

The biggest international snooker pro-am ever held in Poland, over 130 players entered this fifth edition of the event.

In order to accommodate the big entry across five days of action, several venues in host town Lwówek staged matches early on, with contestants divided into 44 round robin groups of three players and the top two from each advancing to the knockout rounds.

World number 71 Boiko - a semi-finalist at last season’s Snooker Shoot Out - won his group and qualified without dropping a frame, making breaks of 81, 138 (which would stand as the highest break of the tournament) and 101 in the process.

In the knockouts, the 20-year-old Ukrainian continued his unblemished record by defeating Jerzy Idzikowski 2-0 (breaks of 103, 93) and Krzysztof Drążkiewicz 3-0 (71) in the last 64 and 32 respectively to reach the Finals Day which featured the 16 remaining cueists.

Boiko then eliminated Jakub Zakrzewski 3-0 (72) before recovering from 1-0 and 2-1 down to oust Latvian teenager Nikita Bazilevics, 3-2, in the quarter-finals.

In the last four, Boiko came up against 15-year-old compatriot Matvei Lagodzinschii, and it was the youngster who took an early lead. However, Boiko strung together the next four frames - aided by runs of 51, 133 and 80 - for a 4-1 victory to go through to the final.

Emerging from the other side of the draw was fellow World Snooker Tour professional Antoni Kowalski, the reigning champion who had won the last two editions of the tournament.

A Crucible debutant back in the spring, Kowalski qualified for the knockouts, but had to make do with second in his group having been defeated by Rostik Bovonenko.

Needing to start in the preliminary round, the 22-year-old Pole dispatched Amadeusz Bielecki and Piotr Olejnik, both 2-0, before keeping his title defence alive in the last 32 when turning a 2-0 deficit into a 3-2 comeback win over teenager Sebastian Milewski.

Efforts of 86 and 83 helped Kowalski whitewash Krzysztof Czapnik 3-0 in the last 16 and set-up a blockbuster meeting with Mateusz Baranowski in what was an all-professional quarter-final.

Baranowski twice restored parity from a frame down - crafting a 104 to force the contest all the way - but it was Kowalski who got the verdict in the decider. In the semi-finals against Jakub Chromy, Kowalski went one down, but won four successive frames - with contributions of 110, 66 and 64 - to reach the final again.

However, there would be no third title in-a-row for Kowalski, as former European under-21 champion Boiko scored a 4-0 victory in the final, highlighted by a 119 - his fifth century of the competition.

The impressive field that took part in this latest staging is further evidence of snooker’s growing popularity - both as a spectator and participation sport - across Eastern Europe. There are currently three players from Poland, and three from Ukraine in the professional ranks, and all of them are aged under 23, except for 29-year-old Baranowski.

The 2026 Polish Snooker Open was organised under the honorary patronage of the Ministry of Sport and Tourism and Mr. Jakub Rutnicki, and co-financed by the Department of Regional Development of the Wielkopolski Region and the Starosta of Nowotomysk.

From the semi-finals, the event was staged at the MGOK Hall, and televised by TVP Sport.