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Vladislav Gradinari Completes English National Hat-Trick
Vladislav Gradinari defeated Shaun Liu 5-4 in the final of the English Under-18 Championship at Barratts Snooker Club in Northampton to win the title for the first time.
The success in Northamptonshire saw the 16-year-old Gradinari add the English Under-18 crown to a growing trophy cabinet that already includes the European Under-16 Championship (2024), English Under-16 Championship (2024) and English Under-14 Championship (2022).
The cueist, who is originally from Moldova, picked up eight consecutive victories en route to the title – including impressive wins over defending champion Daniel Boyes and recent World Snooker Federation (WSF) Junior Championship runner-up Kaylan Patel.
Patel was one of four payers that Gradinari overcame in the opening day’s group stage, where a field of 43 players was reduced to 24 for Sunday’s knockout rounds.
The talented teenager was forced to show his battling qualities in the last 16 as he trailed 17-year-old Dylan Smith 3-0 in a race to four.
Gradinari hit a break of 80 in the fourth frame to reduce his deficit and further contributions 49 and 39 helped him into the quarter-finals where he ended the title defence of Boyes (4-2).
A whitewash win over Asten Sahota in the semi-finals then saw Gradinari set up a final meeting with 14-year-old Liu.
Former English Under-14 champion Liu had dropped just four frames on the concluding day as he ousted William Chambers (4-1), Zain Jeraj (4-2), O’Shay Scott (4-1) and William Thomson (4-0) to book his place in the final.
The final match was a high-quality affair between two talented youngsters which featured six half-centuries and a further seven efforts over 30.
Gradinari took the opener before Liu, who impressively defeated Steven Hallworth and Harvey Chandler to reach the quarter-finals of a recent WPBSA Q Tour Europe event, restored parity with the tournament high break of 102.
The two players went blow-for-blow but it was Liu who pulled away by taking the fifth and sixth frames with breaks of 38, 46 and 67 to move one away from the title at 4-2.
Gradinari once again dug deep with visits of 45 and 34 to force a decider before his second half-century of the contest, a 57, proved enough to get over the line and win his third English national championship.
