Cork's Leone Crowley makes history winning the WSF Junior Champioship 

Leone Crowley makes history as the first Irish WSF junior champion.

HISTORY: Leone Crowley is the world junior snooker champion.

Cork teenager Leone Crowley is set to rub shoulders with Ronnie O’Sullivan, world champion Kyren Wilson, and his hero Judd Trump, after making history for Ireland by winning the WSF junior championship in Morocco.

The 18-year-old from Ballyvolane came through a field of 57 players, representing 22 different countries, to eventually whitewash English 16-year-old Kaylan Patel, 5-0, in the decider, at the Radisson Blu Resort in Saidia, capturing, in the process, a professional tour card for 2025/26 and 2026/27.

Crowley initially topped his group, winning his first four matches for the loss of only two frames, before thrashing Scotland’s Ayaan Iqbal, 4-0, in the last sixteen. His toughest test came in the quarter-finals, when he came from 3-2 down to defeat Poland’s Michal Szubarczyk in a last frame clincher.

In the semi-finals, the Cork talent was too good for a second Iqbal brother, dismissing Amaan 4-1, before he produced the goods in the final against Leicester’s Patel, who had caused a stir in his progress through the tournament, including a significant victory over the highly-rated Riley Powell.

However, Crowley was in control of the match from the off, winning all four frames before the mid-session interval, and he didn’t take too long after the break either before sealing a memorable triumph, which propels him into a coveted spot on the World Snooker Tour.

“I feel very good. I have been playing the game for the last ten years, and I’ve put a lot of hard work into this, so I am just happy to have made my Dad proud, and myself too. My family back home were all watching it, so I want to thank them for all the support,” said Crowley.

“I, 100%, believed that this was possible, because if you don’t believe, then you’re not going to achieve your goals. I was feeling good coming into the final. It was scrappy, but there was some good safety play, and I felt confident when I was in front that I would eventually get over the line.

“I want to gain experience and, hopefully, I can stay on the tour. I don’t want to say too much but, hopefully, after those two years, I will stay on – that’s the goal. My hero is Judd Trump, so I would like to play him,” he added.