Youngster Ruivo Wins Maiden Portuguese Snooker Championship Title
Miguel Ruivo won the 2025 Portuguese National Snooker Championship after ousting defending champion Diogo Lourenço Badalo on the very last black ball in a thrilling final.
Organised by the Portuguese Billiards Federation, this year’s blue riband domestic snooker event was held at the Hotel Termis da Curia in late May. A format featuring a double elimination phase before the straight knockouts, matches up to and including the semi-finals were played with 10 reds, although the title tie was contested with the traditional 15.
20-year-old Ruivo lost his opening match of the tournament but he still managed to qualify for the knockouts via the losers’ side. In the quarter-finals, Ruivo dispatched former back-to-back winner of this title Tiago Silva 2-1 before pipping Bruno Francisco by the same scoreline in the semi-finals. Francisco was the player who had defeated him earlier in the competition.
It was the first time that Ericeira-based cueist Ruivo had reached the final; he’d previously been to the last four in both 2019 and 2022.
Emerging from the other side of the draw was title holder Badalo who dropped just one frame en route to the final. The 2016 and 2024 champion defeated Diogo Soares and Jorge Paixao both 2-0 in the quarter and semi-finals respectively.
The opening frame of the title match – which was overseen by World Snooker Tour referee Andre Santos – went the way of Ruivo, but Badalo deposited the next two to move a frame away from retaining the crown.
However, Ruivo took frame four to restore parity at 2-2 and force a decider that ultimately went all the way to the final ball. Badalo couldn’t convert his opportunities but Ruivo subsequently sank the decisive black into a middle pocket to claim the biggest snooker title of his career, to date.
Photo from Federação Portuguesa de Bilhar
