Kandi Regains Nordic Title

Daniel Kandi defeated defending champion Jani Kananen 5-2 in the final to win the 2022 Nordic Snooker Championship in Reykjavík, Iceland. 

Having not been staged last year due to the coronavirus pandemic, the tournament returned with all five Nordic nations – Iceland, Denmark, Finland, Norway, Sweden – each sending several representatives to the four-day event which was jointly held at the Snooker & Pool and Billiardbarinn venues.

A seven-time Danish national champion, 38-year-old Kandi reached the final of this event for the fourth consecutive edition and gained revenge on Kananen having lost to him via a deciding frame in the final the last time out in 2020.

Kandi qualified for the knockout phase after finishing top of his round robin group with four wins from four. He then eliminated Jirka Maarenen (Finland) 4-1 with the help of a 127 break, reigning Icelandic national champion Þorri Jensson 4-0, and fellow countryman Rune Kampe 4-2 (with breaks of 55 and 68) in the last 16, 8 and 4, respectively.

Finland’s Kananen was aiming to become only the second player in the history of the championship to successfully retain the title following Johannes Birgir Johannesson’s wins in the inaugural year of 2000 and then 2001.

He too reached the title match with a 100% record, scoring a break of 117 in the groups phase before knockout victories over Skúli Magnússon (Iceland) 4-1, Martin Søndergaard (Norway) 4-2 and Suleman Kukka-Salam (Sweden) 4-3.

However, Kandi – who has a competitive 147 to his name – ended Kananen’s reign in the final, registering a run of 106 in the process to secure his second Nordic title after his initial triumph in 2019 in Sweden.

Article by Michael Day.