Kandi Claims Ninth Danish Snooker Championship Title

Daniel Kandi ousted teenager Malthe Dahlberg 5-4 in the final to win the 2023 Danish National Snooker Championship – the ninth time that Kandi has claimed his country’s most prestigious snooker title. 

Held at the Copenhagen Pool and Snooker House in the capital city, Kandi was one of 16 seeds for the main stages of the draw which took place on the weekend of April 8 and 9. Those seeds were joined by players that came through the qualifying rounds which played out across the previous two days. 

Kandi began the tournament in fine fashion, making breaks of 86 and 79 (the former standing as the event’s highest break) as he defeated Carsten Jallow 4-0 in the first round. The 39-year-old from Aalborg maintained his perfect record with further 4-0 wins against Casper Petersen and Per Micki Christensen in the last 16 and quarter-finals respectively before a 4-1 victory against Martin Søndergaard in the semi-finals. 

Coming through the other side of the draw was 17-year-old Dahlberg who was appearing in the final for the first time.

The youngster from Fensmark came through his opening two matches without dropping a frame and then eliminated Allan Norvark 4-1 in the last eight and 2021 champion William Bjerregaard Jakobsen 4-2 in the last four. 

A compelling final ensued with Dahlberg establishing 2-0 and 3-2 leads, but Kandi recovered, going in front at 4-3 before his opponent forced a deciding frame which he managed to win for the title. 

It is the ninth time that Kandi has won the Championship, with his maiden triumph arriving in 2005. On his way to claiming the 2018 edition, Kandi compiled a 147 break – not only was it his first 147, but it was the first maximum ever to be made in a Danish tournament. 

The previous weekend at the Aarhus Snooker & Pool venue, Jakobsen defeated Christensen 5-2 in the final to win the 2023 Danish 6-Red Snooker Championship.