Iulian Boiko Regains Professional Status with European Glory
Iulian Boiko defeated Oliver Sykes 5-4 in the final of the European Under-21 Championship in Antalya, Türkiye to earn a two-year World Snooker Tour (WST) tour card starting from the 2025/26 season.
Organised by the European Billiards & Snooker Association, the 2025 European Championships in Antalya feature Under-16, Under-18, Under-21 and Main tournaments with the winners of the Under-21 and Main events each earning two-year tour cards.
The success for Boiko means the 19-year-old from Ukraine will return to the main tour after a three-year absence having previously become the youngest ever professional player at the age of 14 back in 2020.
Boiko had come within touching distance of a tour card earlier in the week in Antalya when he competed in the WPBSA Q Tour Play-Offs, overcoming Alex Clenshaw and Vinnie Calabrese to reach the final round before succumbing to Liam Highfield 10-3.
The teenager quickly bounced back, however, to top his group with a clean sweep of victories and just a single frame dropped before defeating Maksim Kostov and Arsenii Korolev each by a 4-1 scoreline to reach the quarter-finals.
Next he faced fellow countryman and Ukrainian national champion Mykhailo Larkov.
Boiko quickly fell 2-0 behind in the best-of-seven frame contest but impressively rallied with contributions of 42, 51, 45 and 51 to get over the line a 4-2 victor.
A 4-1 win over Northern Ireland’s Joel Connolly then saw the Ukrainian set up a final meeting with England’s Oliver Sykes, who had whitewashed former professional Anton Kazakov in the semi-finals to reach the title match.
The 19-year-old Sykes had similarly bounced back impressively to reach the final after losing out in the penultimate round of the Q Tour Play-Offs at the same venue to Andres Petrov.
The pressure was on with both the prestigious title and professional status on the line in a race to five frames but it was Boiko who started the strongest and raced into a 3-1 lead at the mid-session interval with a top break of 66.
Sykes, who was aiming to join the WST ranks for the first time in his young career, hit back-to-back breaks of 58 for parity before the two players shared the next two frames to force a tense decider.
The all-important concluding frame was a real battle with both players showing understandable signs of tension as it came down to the final few balls.
It was Boiko who was able to pull himself over the line, however, to secure the title and end a three-year wait to return to the professional game.
SZUBARCZYK DOES THE DOUBLE
Michal Szubarczyk has won both the European Under-16 and Under-18 titles during an unforgettable week for the 14-year-old from Poland.
The Pole’s Championship began with the Under-16 event where he topped his group before dropping just two frames in the knockout stages en route to the final.
An all-Polish final saw Szubarczyk face 14-year-old Krzysztof Czapnik in the title match and it was the eventual champion who made a blistering start with breaks of 96 and 91 to storm into an early 2-0 lead.
Czapnik did hold his own in the contest, reducing the deficit to just one on two occasions at 2-1 and 3-2, but Szubarczyk proved to be simply too strong as he got over the line in the sixth frame to secure the title with a 4-2 victory.
The joy continued for the 14-year-old Pole as the Under-18 event got underway.
Once again topping his group, this time without dropping a frame, he found his way into the final by last defeating Northern Ireland’s Joel Connolly 4-2 in the semi-finals.
England’s Ethan Llewellyn was his opponent at this stage after he had fought past defending champion Vladislav Gradinari in a final frame decider in the last four.
The first two frames of the title match were shared but, from there, Szubarczyk once again showed his class to race ahead and ultimately secure a 4-1 win and the title with a visit of 42 in frame five.
The Main EBSA European Championship event is currently ongoing and the champion, who will earn a two-year WST tour card, will be crowned on Saturday 22 March. Follow via the EBSA website.
