Hanssens Wins Fifth Successive Belgian Snooker Championship and Equals All-Time Record

Kevin Hanssens defeated Wesley Pelgrims 5-2 in the final at the Hangaar 44 venue in Glabbeek to win the 2025 Belgian National Snooker Championship.

The 41-year-old continues his dominance of Belgian snooker’s blue riband domestic event having now claimed the last five editions in succession. Hanssens’ latest triumph represents his sixth title victory overall in the competition.

Organised by the Belgium Billiards and Snooker Association, this national championship was first won by Mario Lannoye in 1984. Lannoye went on to capture the title six times, and so did former top 64 professional player Bjorn Haneveer, meaning current holder Hanssens joins both of them at the top of the all-time list.

Belgium’s greatest-ever snooker player – former world professional champion Luca Brecel – has won this title three times before.

Lochristi cueist Hanssens began his title defence with a 4-1 victory over Pascal Tollenaere before runs of 53 and 51 helped him to eliminate Nick Van Hee by the same scoreline in the last 16.

Hanssens posted a break of 84 as he dispatched John d’Hondt 4-1 in the quarter-finals, and he finished in style with an effort of 105 in defeating Yorben Vervondel 4-0 in the last four.

Emerging from the other side of the draw was Pelgrims, who dropped only four frames en route to the final, although the 25-year-old did have to recover from a 2-0 deficit to see off Nick Demuynck, 4-2, in the semi-finals.

For the third time from the last four stagings of the tournament, it was a Hanssens v Pelgrims final. It was looking like being ‘third time’s a charm’ for Pelgrims in his pursuit of lifting the trophy for the first time in his career as went 2-0 up in the title match, but Hanssens battled back, stringing together five consecutive frames (75 break, frame five) to maintain his tight grip on the national crown.

No player had ever won this title more than three times in a row before; Hanssens – whose maiden success came in 2016 – has now done it five times on the spin (2019, 2022, 2023, 2024, 2025 – event not held in 2020/21 due to COVID-19).

Hanssens’ last defeat in the Championship was a 5-4 quarter-final loss to Kristof Vermeiren in 2018.

At the same venue in March, 52-year-old Alain Vandersteen won the Belgian national 6-reds title after beating d’Hondt 4-3 in final.