Isle of Wight cue sports ace Craig Brown produced a remarkable display of 9-ball pool in Romania, winning 2 tournaments in 3 days against strong local opposition.
Craig Brown travelled to Bucharest with darts on the schedule, but it was on the pool table where the former England international made the decisive impact, returning home with 2 trophies after an intense weekend of competition.
Brown, who competes on the WDF darts circuit and has represented England in both darts and snooker, was aware pool events were running alongside the darts festival. The decision to take his cue abroad proved crucial.
After opting out of the Friday night Bucharest Darts Open, Brown entered the opening 9-ball tournament at Sports Bar Mercury 2. Despite limited sleep and fatigue, he topped his group with 2 wins from 3 matches to reach the knockout stages.
He followed up with a controlled 6–3 quarter-final win before edging past Romanian regular Andrei Minca 6–5 in the semi-final. The final, played late into the night, saw Brown raise his level again, defeating Robert Preda 7–3 to secure the title at approximately 02:30.
On Sunday afternoon, following an early exit from the Romanian Open darts event, Brown returned to the pool venue refocused. He produced a consistent run of results, winning 6–3, 6–1, 6–5, 6–1 and 6–3 to reach his 2nd final of the weekend.
Awaiting him once again was Andrei Minca, a regular winner on the Romanian circuit. In a high-standard final lasting just under 3 hours, Brown showed composure and tactical discipline to edge an 11–9 victory, completing a back-to-back tournament double shortly after 01:00.
The performances underlined Brown’s all-round cue sports pedigree and his ability to adapt in unfamiliar conditions against established local opposition. He was supported throughout by his father Alan Brown and long-time friend Dave Strickland, who also competed during the trip.
Craig is the brother of Isle of Wight darts star Keegan Brown, with the Bucharest results further highlighting the family’s sports pedigree.
