After securing victory at the Irish Open – used as a warm-up event – the dominant force in the current international Billiards scene, England’s Dave Causier, has once again claimed the first of the two World Championships organized by World Billiards in 2025, successfully defending his title.
Dave Causier remains the benchmark in international Billiards. Currently holding nearly all the Open titles awarded over the past twelve months, the 53-year-old Englishman has extended his unparalleled winning streak with victories at both the Irish Billiards Open and the World Billiards Matchplay. With these latest triumphs, he now rightfully tops the World Billiards rankings – a position previously held by 2023 time-format World Champion Peter Gilchrist, a fellow English-born player who represents Singapore.
It was Gilchrist who fell to Causier in the final of the Irish Open with a score of 315-677, and again in the semifinals of the World Matchplay, where he lost 2-7 to the eventual champion.
The grand Matchplay final was without question the most thrilling encounter of this year’s championship in the points format, which is played under modified rules. Causier struggled early to find his usual dominant rhythm, while Indian billiards all-rounder and multiple-time world champion Pankaj Advani looked poised to take the crown. With the match seemingly tilted in Advani’s favor at 7-5 in the best-of-15 contest, Causier turned things around with a combination of class, favorable momentum, and a “nothing to lose” mindset – winning the last three games to clinch the title 8-7 in a dramatic comeback.
Austria was represented by current National Matchplay Champion and 2011 Billiards Champion Patrick Stegmeier, along with Carl Walter Steiner, Austria’s highest-ranked player in the WBL world rankings. However, neither player was able to make a lasting impression on the tournament, and both were eliminated after recording one win each during the group stage of the Irish Open in Carlow.
Patrick Stegmeier, Christian Fock, Carl Walter Steiner; ©PJNolan
Austria was also represented officially by ÖSBV President Christian Fock, a certified Class-1 referee. At both the Irish Open and World Matchplay, the Viennese official had the honor of refereeing a quarterfinal match at the highest international level. Notably, Christian Fock was also officiating during Peter Gilchrist’s remarkable break of 646 points – the highest of the entire event – achieved in the group stage of the Irish Open.
In addition to the competitions, the Austrian delegation – which included Christian Fock as President and Patrick Stegmeier as Sports Director of the ÖSBV – engaged in productive discussions with colleagues from World Billiards. As a result, Austria will remain a close cooperation partner of World Billiards and has been offered the opportunity to host a major two-part Billiards event in Vienna in 2026. Further details will follow after the official announcement from WBL.
» Results WBL Irish Billiards Open 2025
» Results WBL World Billiards Matchplay 2025
Title photograph: Tournament Director Aonghus McAnally, Dave Causier, SBI President Jim Leacy; ©WBL