Lukas Stötzer from Upper Austria showcases his considerable talent and gains valuable experience at the 2024 EBSA Junior European Snooker Championships in Sarajevo, where he competes in three age categories. He successfully advances to the knockout phase in two out of three events.
In the U16 opening event, the 13-year-old Austrian, after winning two out of three matches, faces a tiebreaker shootout, “Best of 5 Respotted Blacks,” due to an equal number of match wins and frame differences, which went against the winner of the 2023 Austrian Championships in the U18 and U21 categories .
2-1 vs. 
Ryan Davies | Shoot-out 0-3
2-0 vs. 
Filip Vidak
1-2 vs. 
Christian Richter | Shoot-out 3-2
The title goes to 15-year-old Moldovan and title favorite Vladislav Gradinari, who has already been invited to professional tour events.
Just a day after exiting the U16 competition, Stötzer wins his opening match in the U18 group stage, securing two group victories, which are sufficient for him to advance as the runner-up into the round of 48. However, he narrowly loses to Poland’s Jakub Zakrzewski with a score of 3-2.
3-1 vs. 
Lorcain O’Curraoin
3-2 vs. Jack Taylor
2-3 vs. 
Adyan Iqbal
2-3 vs. 
Jakub Zakrzewski
The new U18 European champion is Bulcsú Révész from Hungary, who defeats the freshly crowned U16 champion Vladislav Gradinari 4-0 in the final.
The final U21 event, which rewards the winner with a Main Tour ticket, seems to mirror the U18 competition. Stötzer wins the first two group matches, loses the third, and once again advances to the knockout phase as the runner-up. However, he narrowly loses to his Romanian opponent Mario Paun in the decider with a score of 3-4, just as in the previous event.
3-1 vs. 
Jenson Schmid
3-2 vs. Dimitrije Stefanovic
0-3 vs. 
Paul Deaville
3-4 vs. 
Mario Paun
The final between Poland’s Antoni Kowalski and Wales’ Liam Davies sees the latter emerge victorious with a score of 5-3.
For Lukas Stötzer, this year’s EBSA European Championship in Bosnia and Herzegovina concludes with one near miss and two actual advancements into the playoffs, a result worth celebrating. He has gained valuable experience in this significant talent test. It is hoped that the Upper Austrian junior serial champion will draw the right conclusions from these narrow results to emerge victorious in close matches in future competitions.
EBSA European Championship 2024
Photograph: © ÖSBV