Ophélie Laval: three tables, five podiums

In four months, Ophélie Laval has stepped onto the podium five times. What makes her season so special is that these five medals come from three different games: snooker, blackball and heyball.

A blackball team world champion in Albi in 2022 and an ambassador of the Ball in Mind Team, Ophélie is one of the rare players who shine on every table. A look back at a summer where almost everything went her way.

In early June, in Dinard, Ophélie plays the French women’s snooker championship. She does not lose a single match: sixteen frames won and only one lost, plus the highest break of the event, 32. In the final she beats the defending champion, Rose Deu Va, 3-0. Ophélie Laval is the 2026 French snooker champion.

Two weeks later, a change of table: Les Herbiers, for the French blackball championship. She reaches the final, where she loses to Sabrilla Brunet, unbeaten throughout the event. Two national finals in two weeks, in two different games.

Heyball is Chinese eight-ball: a 9-foot table, solids and stripes, and very tight pockets that forgive nothing. In August the European Championships are held in Kielce, Poland, and Ophélie is part of the French squad.

She battles her way to the semi-final, where she only goes down in the deciding frame to Germany’s Melanie Bakhtaoui-Süßenguth, the eventual champion. A European bronze medal, the first international medal of her summer.

Back to snooker, this time at the European Championships in Sofia, Bulgaria. Teaming up with Rose Deu Va, her opponent in the Dinard final, Ophélie reaches the final after beating Belgium. England win 3-2 after a fine comeback: a silver medal.

In the singles she wins her first three matches, then stops against England’s Rebecca Kenna, the future European champion: a bronze medal. These are France’s only two medals of the event. The coach of the French snooker team, Paul Coldrick, is also a member of the Ball in Mind Team.

Switching from one game to another means changing almost everything. Snooker is played on the biggest table, with 22 balls and points for every ball potted. Blackball is played on a small table, reds against yellows, with the black to finish. Heyball takes the idea of eight-ball onto a 9-foot table with very tight pockets.

Distances, cloth speed, ball size: everything changes from one game to the next. What remains is accuracy, consistency and a strong mind. Shining on all three tables in the same season takes very rigorous practice.

The season is far from over. From 20 to 28 October, Ophélie represents France at the Blackball World Championships in London, in the women’s singles and doubles. Four other Ball in Mind Team players are making the trip.

Then come the French first-division team championship and the national snooker tour. We will follow all her matches on our social media. Go Ophélie!

Meet the Ball in Mind Team