Antoni Kowalski

Antoni Kowalski (born 9 February 2004) is a Polish professional snooker player. He has earned a two-year card on the World Snooker Tour from the 2024–25 snooker season.

He is the first Polish player to qualify for the main draw of the World Snooker Championship at the Crucible.

Career In 2019, he won the World Open Under-16 Snooker Championships, defeating Hungarian Bulcsú Révész 4–2 in the final. He became the first Polish player to win the title.

In 2022, Kowalski was runner up to Liam Davies in the Under-18 and Under-21 categories at the IBSF World Snooker Championship.

In January 2023, Kowalski defeated Mateusz Baranowski 5–2 in the final of the Polish Championship in Lublin. It was his second Polish national championship, having also won the title in 2021.

2023-24 season In November 2023, Kowalski secured the biggest title of his career as he defeated Rory McLeod 5–3 in the final to win the Landywood Q Tour title.

In January 2024, he defeated Baranowski in the final of the Polish national championship again, for his third national title. In March 2024, he reached the final of the EBSA European Under-21 Snooker Championships where he lost to Liam Davies.

2024-25 season He entered Q School in May 2024 and in the second event he progressed to the latter stages with wins over Jed Mann, and former professional James Cahill. In the final round he faced Englishman Simon Blackwell and triumphed 4–1 to earn an assured two-year card on the World Snooker Tour.

He began his pro career at the 2024 Championship League in Leicester in June 2024 with his results including a 2–2 draw with World Championship finalist Jak Jones in his round robin group. He reached the third round of the 2024 Saudi Arabia Snooker Masters with a 4–0 win over He Guoqiang. He defeated Hammad Miah at the 2024 Northern Ireland Open in September 2024. In December 2024, he reached the last-16 of the 2024 Snooker Shoot Out. That month, he reached the last-64 of the 2025 German Masters with a 5–0 win over Martin O'Donnell, and the last-64 of the 2025 World Open.

2025-26 season He was drawn in the round-robin stage of the 2025 Championship League against Stuart Bingham, Hatem Yassin and Halim Hussain, finishing second in the group behind Bingham with two wins. In April 2026, he moved into the third round of qualifying for the 2026 World Snooker Championship with a 10-1 win over Connor Benzey before defeating Joe O'Connor 10-8 to set-up a final round match against Jamie Jones. He won the match against Jones 10-8 which assured he retained his place on the World Snooker Tour; a defeat would have resulted in relegation. With the win he also became the first Polish player to qualify for The Crucible setting up a first round match against Mark Williams, which he lost 10-4.

Performance and rankings timeline Performance Table LegendLQ lost in the qualifying draw#R lost in the early rounds of the tournament(WR = Wildcard round, RR = Round robin)QF lost in the quarter-finalsSF lost in the semi-finalsF lost in the finalW won the tournamentDNQ did not qualify for the tournamentA did not participate in the tournamentWD withdrew from the tournament NH / Not Held means an event was not held.NR / Non-Ranking Event means an event is/was no longer a ranking event.R / Ranking Event means an event is/was a ranking event.MR / Minor-Ranking Event means an event is/was a minor-ranking event.

Career finals Pro-am finals: 1 Outcome No. Year Championship Opponent in the final ScoreRunner-up 1. 2024 Belgian Open Joe O'Connor 2–4

Amateur finals: 8 (5 titles) Outcome No. Year Championship Opponent in the final ScoreWinner 1. 2019 World Open Under-16 Snooker Championships Bulcsú Révész 4–2Winner 2. 2020 Polish Amateur Championship Mateusz Baranowski 6–4Runner-up 1. 2022 IBSF World Under-18 Snooker Championship Liam Davies 3–4Runner-up 2. 2022 IBSF World Under-21 Snooker Championship Liam Davies 1–5Winner 3. 2023 Polish Amateur Championship (2) Mateusz Baranowski 5–2Winner 4. 2023 Q Tour – Event 4 Rory McLeod 5–3Winner 5. 2024 Polish Amateur Championship (3) Mateusz Baranowski 5–1Runner-up 3. 2024 EBSA European Under-21 Snooker Championships Liam Davies 3–5

Team finals: 2 (2 titles)