Antoni Kowalski
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| Born | 9 February 2004 Zielona Góra, Poland |
|---|---|
| Sport country |  Poland |
| Nickname | The Flying Pole[1] |
| Professional | 2024–present |
| Highest ranking | 65 (May 2026) |
| Current ranking | 104 (as of 17 August 2026) |
| Best ranking finish | Last 16 (2024 Shoot Out) |
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.[2]
He is the first Polish player to qualify for the main draw of the World Snooker Championship at the Crucible.[3]
Early life
Kowalski is from Zielona Góra in Poland.[4]
Career
In 2019, he won the World Open Under-16 Snooker Championships, defeating Hungarian Bulcsú Révész 4–2 in the final.[5][6] He became the first Polish player to win the title.[7]
In 2022, Kowalski was runner up to Liam Davies in the Under-18 and Under-21 categories at the IBSF World Snooker Championship.[8]
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.[9]
2023-24 season
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.[10]
In January 2024, he defeated Baranowski in the final of the Polish national championship again, for his third national title.[11] In March 2024, he reached the final of the EBSA European Under-21 Snooker Championships where he lost to Liam Davies.[12]
2024-25 season
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.[13] 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.[14][15]
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.[16] He reached the third round of the 2024 Saudi Arabia Snooker Masters with a 4–0 win over He Guoqiang.[17] He defeated Hammad Miah at the 2024 Northern Ireland Open in September 2024.[18] In December 2024, he reached the last-16 of the 2024 Snooker Shoot Out.[19] That month, he reached the last-64 of the 2025 German Masters with a 5–0 win over Martin O'Donnell,[20] and the last-64 of the 2025 World Open.[21]
2025-26 season
He was drawn in the round-robin stage of the 2025 Championship League against Stuart Bingham, Hatem Yassin and Halim Hussain, finishing second in the group behind Bingham with two wins.[22][23] In April 2026, he moved into the third round of qualifying for the 2026 World Snooker Championship with a 10-1 win over Connor Benzey before defeating Joe O'Connor 10-8 to set-up a final round match against Jamie Jones.[24][25] He won the match against Jones 10-8 which assured he retained his place on the World Snooker Tour; a defeat would have resulted in relegation. With the win he also became the first Polish player to qualify for The Crucible setting up a first round match against Mark Williams, which he lost 10-4.[3][26]
Performance and rankings timeline
| Tournament | 2013/ 14 |
2014/ 15 |
2015/ 16 |
2017/ 18 |
2018/ 19 |
2019/ 20 |
2020/ 21 |
2024/ 25 |
2025/ 26 |
2026/ 27 | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ranking[nb 1] | [nb 2] | [nb 2] | [nb 2] | [nb 2] | [nb 2] | [nb 2] | [nb 2] | [nb 3] | 71 | [nb 4] | |||||||||
| Ranking tournaments | |||||||||||||||||||
| Championship League | Non-Ranking Event | A | RR | RR | RR | ||||||||||||||
| China Open | A | A | A | A | A | Tournament Not Held | LQ | ||||||||||||
| Wuhan Open | Tournament Not Held | LQ | LQ | LQ | |||||||||||||||
| British Open | Tournament Not Held | 1R | 2R | LQ | |||||||||||||||
| English Open | Not Held | A | A | A | A | LQ | LQ | ||||||||||||
| Shenzhen Open[nb 5] | Tournament Not Held | LQ | LQ | LQ | |||||||||||||||
| Northern Ireland Open | Not Held | A | A | A | A | LQ | LQ | ||||||||||||
| International Championship | A | A | A | A | A | A | NH | LQ | LQ | ||||||||||
| UK Championship | A | A | A | A | A | A | A | LQ | LQ | ||||||||||
| Shoot Out | Non-Ranking Event | A | A | A | A | 4R | 1R | ||||||||||||
| Scottish Open | Not Held | A | A | A | A | 1R | 1R | ||||||||||||
| German Masters | A | A | A | A | A | A | A | 1R | LQ | ||||||||||
| Welsh Open | A | A | A | A | A | A | A | LQ | 1R | ||||||||||
| World Grand Prix | NH | NR | DNQ | DNQ | DNQ | DNQ | DNQ | DNQ | DNQ | ||||||||||
| Players Championship[nb 6] | DNQ | DNQ | DNQ | DNQ | DNQ | DNQ | DNQ | DNQ | DNQ | ||||||||||
| World Open | A | Not Held | A | A | A | NH | 2R | 1R | |||||||||||
| Tour Championship | Tournament Not Held | DNQ | DNQ | DNQ | DNQ | DNQ | |||||||||||||
| World Championship | A | A | A | A | A | LQ | A | LQ | 1R | ||||||||||
| Non-ranking tournaments | |||||||||||||||||||
| Championship League | A | A | A | A | A | A | A | A | RR | ||||||||||
| Former ranking tournaments | |||||||||||||||||||
| Paul Hunter Classic | Minor-Ranking | LQ | LQ | NR | Tournament Not Held | ||||||||||||||
| European Masters | Not Held | A | A | A | 2R | Not Held | |||||||||||||
| Saudi Arabia Masters | Tournament Not Held | 3R | 3R | 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. | |||
- ↑ It shows the ranking at the beginning of the season
- 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 He was an amateur
- ↑ New players on the Main Tour don't have a ranking
- ↑ Players qualified One Year Ranking List started the season without ranking points
- ↑ The event was called the Xi'an Grand Prix (2024/2025–2025/2026)
- ↑ The event was called the Players Tour Championship Grand Final (2013/2014–2015/2016)
Career finals
Pro-am finals: 1
| 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)
| 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 |
Team finals: 2 (2 titles)
| Outcome | No. | Year | Championship | Team/Partner | Opponent(s) in the final | Score |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Winner | 1. | 2022[27] | European Team Snooker Championships | Poland 1 Mateusz Baranowski |
.svg.png){kind=small} Belgium 1Julien Leclercq Kevin Hanssens |
5–3 |
| Winner | 2. | 2023[28] | European Team Snooker Championships (2) | Poland 1 Mateusz Baranowski |
 IsraelShachar Ruberg Eden Sharav |
5–4 |
References
- ↑ "Antoni Kowalski". World Snooker Tour. Archived from the original on 20 August 2026. Retrieved 20 August 2026.
- ↑ "Antoni Kowalski". Eurosport. Retrieved 18 March 2024.
- 1 2 "Stevens beats Bingham to earn place at Crucible". BBC Sport. 14 April 2026. Retrieved 14 April 2026.
- ↑ 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.
- ↑ "A rising star from Hungary: Bulcsú Révész". World Snooker Tour. 14 October 2022. Retrieved 18 March 2024.
- ↑ Pathak, Vivek (24 August 2019). "Antoni Kowalski – Champion World Under-16 Boys Snooker". IBSF. Retrieved 18 March 2024.
- ↑ 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.
- ↑ "Liam creates history with the Hat-Trick of titles". ibsf.info. Retrieved 18 March 2024.
- ↑ "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.
- ↑ "CHAMPION KOWALSKI CLAIMS LANDYWOOD Q TOUR TITLE". WPBSA. 12 November 2023. Retrieved 18 March 2024.
- ↑ Kalisz, Sara (18 January 2024). "He won the Polish championship while working as... a courier". Sport.tvp.pl. Retrieved 18 March 2024.
- ↑ "DAVIES WINS EUROPEAN UNDER-21 TITLE". wst.tv. 18 March 2024. Retrieved 31 May 2024.
- ↑ "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.
- ↑ "KOWALSKI BEATS CAHILL IN THRILLER". wst.tv. 31 May 2024. Retrieved 1 June 2024.
- ↑ "AJAIB, KOWALSKI, MANN AND TOTTEN RUN Q SCHOOL GAUNTLET". Wpbsa. 1 June 2024. Retrieved 1 June 2024.
- ↑ "MCGUIGAN MAKES FAST START TO PRO CAREER". wst.tv. 17 June 2024. Retrieved 17 June 2024.
- ↑ "SAUDI ARABIA SNOOKER MASTERS: DAY TWO EVENING". wst.tv. 1 September 2024. Retrieved 2 September 2024.
- ↑ "WINNING START FOR WHITE IN BELFAST QUALIFIERS". wst.tv. 28 September 2024. Retrieved 1 October 2024.
- ↑ "Graham stuns Carter to reach last 16". wst.tv. 7 December 2024. Retrieved 7 December 2024.
- ↑ "Kowalaski set for Berlin". wst.tv. 19 December 2024. Retrieved 20 December 2024.
- ↑ "HIGGINS BEATS WANG WITH LATE CLEARANCE". wst.tv. 20 December 2024. Retrieved 21 December 2024.
- ↑ "CHAMPIONSHIP LEAGUE SNOOKER 2025". championshipleaguesnooker.co.uk. Retrieved 28 June 2025.
- ↑ "BINGHAM AND SLESSOR DOMINATE GROUPS". 5 July 2025. Retrieved 6 July 2025.
- ↑ "SZUBARCZYK KEEPS CRUCIBLE DREAM ALIVE". wst.tv. 9 April 2026. Retrieved 10 April 2026.
- ↑ "Pullen set for judgment day". wst.tv. 12 April 2026. Retrieved 13 April 2026.
- ↑ Kane, Desmond (19 April 2026). "World Snooker Championship 2026 - Updates, results and streaming details as Mark Williams beats Antoni Kowalski". TNT Sports. Retrieved 19 April 2026.
- ↑ "European Team Snooker Championships Men - Shengjin / Albania 2022". esnooker.pl.
- ↑ "European Team Snooker Championships Men - Albena / Bulgaria 2023". esnooker.pl.
External links
- Antoni Kowalski at WPBSA
- Antoni Kowalski at the World Snooker Tour
- Antoni Kowalski at Snooker.org