Schulte-Ebbert Retains Lithuanian Championship

Vilius Schulte-Ebbert continues to dominate the domestic scene in his home country as he defeated Mindaugas Maisiejus 4-0 in the final to win the 2023 Lithuanian Snooker Championship. 

It is the sixth time that 28-year-old Schulte-Ebbert has claimed the title – he has won the last three consecutively and five of the last six. 

Organised by the Lithuanian Billiards Federation, this year’s tournament was held across two venues in capital city Vilnius – the KN Club and the Cue Club. An entry of 38 players took part, including teenagers and women. 

Schulte-Ebbert won his opening three matches without dropping a frame and then defeated Mindaugas Eimutis 4-1 in the semi-finals to reach the showpiece contest once again.

On the other side of the draw, Maisiejus – the 2014 runner-up – opened his account with a 3-1 victory against last year’s runner-up, Tadas Andrejevas. Following two further wins, he came from 2-1 down to deny Aleksey Shirokov 4-2 in the last four and make his second final. 

In the title match, Schulte-Ebbert took the first frame with the help of a 56 break before securing the second on the final black. A classy, counter-attacking break of 29 up to and including the final pink saw him go 3-0 up, and then aided by a run of 40 in frame four he completed another successful national championship campaign. 

In an earlier round, Schulte-Ebbert constructed a break of 90 – the highest of the event.

The images above are courtesy of Egidijus Dudenas/Lithuanian Billiards Federation