Silvino Francisco

Silvino Francisco (3 May 1946 – 14 December 2024) was a South African professional snooker player who won the 1985 British Open.

Silvino Francisco

Born	(1946-05-03)3 May 1946 Cape Town, South Africa
Died	14 December 2024(2024-12-14) (aged 78) Mansfield, England
Sport country	South Africa
Nickname	The Silver Fish[1]
Professional	1981–1997
Highest ranking	10 (1987/88)
Tournament wins
Ranking	1

Snooker career

Francisco came from a snooker-playing family. His brother Manuel and nephew Peter both played at a high level, Manuel having been a runner-up in the World Amateur Billiards Championship on several occasions, and Peter having risen to the world ranking of number 14.

Francisco won the 1985 British Open, beating Kirk Stevens 12–9. Prior to the start of the Final match, Francisco accused Stevens of playing under the influence of drugs. Francisco was subsequently fined for the comments.^[2] The world governing body of snooker, the WPBSA, accepted that the accusation was false and it is on record that Kirk Stevens has never failed a drugs test in the history of his career.^[3] Stevens later admitted to having an addiction to cocaine.^[2]

He was involved in another scandal after the 1989 Masters. After losing 5–1 to Terry Griffiths in the last-16, it was discovered that there had been heavy betting on that exact score. Francisco was arrested, but later released without charge.

Personal life and death

Francisco suffered gambling problems towards the end of his professional career, to the extent of being declared bankrupt in 1996 due to income tax arrears.

In 1997, Francisco was arrested for smuggling cannabis and served three years in prison.^[4]

Francisco remarried his ex-wife June in the early 2000s, the couple having previously divorced. In his later years he dedicated himself to his family, specifically his grandchildren Enola and Osiris, charity work and the snooker youth.^[5]

Francisco died on 14 December 2024, aged 78.^[6]

He is also survived and remembered by his 4 biological children and 1 step son (“Young Silvino”, Steve, Ashley, Dominic, Danielle) who he raised with his second wife, Denise.

He remains the only African snooker player to have won a professional snooker ranking event.^[7]

Performance and rankings timeline

Tournament	1979/ 80	1981/ 82	1982/ 83	1983/ 84	1984/ 85	1985/ 86	1986/ 87	1987/ 88	1988/ 89	1989/ 90	1990/ 91	1991/ 92	1992/ 93	1993/ 94	1994/ 95	1995/ 96	1996/ 97
Ranking[8]	[nb 1]	[nb 2]	17	21	17	13	12	10	12	23	26	24	28	33	57	81	125
Ranking tournaments
Asian Classic[nb 3]	Tournament Not Held								NR	1R	3R	2R	2R	LQ	LQ	LQ	LQ
Grand Prix[nb 4]	Not Held		A	3R	3R	QF	SF	2R	1R	1R	2R	3R	1R	LQ	LQ	1R	LQ
UK Championship	Non-Ranking Event				1R	3R	2R	3R	2R	2R	3R	1R	1R	1R	LQ	LQ	LQ
German Open	Tournament Not Held															LQ	A
Welsh Open	Tournament Not Held											2R	2R	LQ	1R	LQ	LQ
International Open[nb 5]	NH	NR	A	QF	SF	1R	QF	3R	2R	2R	Not Held		3R	1R	1R	LQ	LQ
European Open	Tournament Not Held								1R	2R	1R	1R	1R	LQ	LQ	LQ	LQ
Thailand Open[nb 6]	Not Held			Non-Ranking Event				Not Held		QF	WD	2R	1R	LQ	LQ	LQ	LQ
British Open[nb 7]	Non-Ranking Event				W	2R	2R	2R	1R	1R	2R	2R	2R	LQ	LQ	LQ	LQ
World Championship	A	QF	1R	2R	1R	2R	2R	1R	2R	LQ	LQ	LQ	LQ	LQ	LQ	LQ	LQ
Non-ranking tournaments
Scottish Masters	NH	A	A	A	A	SF	A	A	NH	A	A	A	A	A	A	A	A
The Masters	A	A	A	A	A	1R	QF	1R	1R	A	LQ	LQ	LQ	LQ	WD	A	A
Pontins Professional	A	A	A	QF	A	A	A	A	A	A	A	A	A	A	A	A	A
Former ranking tournaments
Canadian Masters	Tournament Not Held					Non-Ranking			LQ	Tournament Not Held
Hong Kong Open[nb 8]	Non-Ranking Event								NH	1R	Tournament Not Held				NR		NH
Classic	Non-Ranking			2R	1R	1R	QF	3R	3R	SF	1R	2R	Tournament Not Held
Strachan Open	Tournament Not Held											1R	MR	NR	Not Held
Former non-ranking tournaments
Limosin International	SF	Tournament Not Held
Pontins Brean Sands	Not Held		F	Tournament Not Held
Pot Black	A	A	A	QF	1R	A	Tournament Not Held					A	A	A	Not Held
Australian Masters[nb 9]	A	A	A	A	A	1R	A	A	NH	A	Tournament Not Held				A	A	NH
South African Professional Championship	SF	Tournament Not Held					W	A	A	Tournament Not Held
Shoot-Out	Tournament Not Held										1R	Tournament Not Held
World Masters	Tournament Not Held										2R	Tournament Not Held
World Seniors Championship	Tournament Not Held											QF	Tournament Not Held

Performance Table Legend
LQ	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-finals
SF	lost in the semi-finals	F	lost in the final	W	won the tournament
DNQ	did not qualify for the tournament	A	did not participate in the tournament	WD	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.

1. He was an amateur.
2. New players on the Main Tour do not have a ranking.
3. The event was also called the Dubai Masters (1988/1989), Dubai Classic (1989/90–1994/1995) and Thailand Classic (1995/1996).
4. The event was also called the Professional Players Tournament (1982/83–1983/1984).
5. The event was also called the Goya Matchroom Trophy (1985/1986)
6. The event was also called the Thailand Masters (1983/1984–1986/1987 & 1991/1992) and the Asian Open (1989/1990–1992/1993)
7. The event was also called the British Gold Cup (1979/1980), Yamaha Organs Trophy (1980/1981) and International Masters (1981/1982–1983/1984)
8. The event was also called the Australian Masters (1979/1980–1987/1988) and Australian Open (1994/1995)
9. The event was also called the Hong Kong Open (1989/1990) and Australian Open (1994/1995)

Career finals

Ranking finals: 1 (1 title)

Outcome	No.	Year	Championship	Opponent in the final	Score
Winner	1.	1985	British Open	Kirk Stevens	12–9

Non-ranking finals: 3 (1 title)

Outcome	No.	Year	Championship	Opponent in the final	Score
Runner-up	1.	1978	South African Professional Championship	Perrie Mans	5–9
Runner-up	2.	1983	Pontins Brean Sands	Tony Meo	7–9
Winner	1.	1986	South African Professional Championship	François Ellis	9–1

Team finals: 1

Outcome	No.	Year	Championship	Team/partner	Opponent(s) in the final	Score
Runner-up	1.	1989	World Cup	Rest of the World	England	8–9

Amateur finals: 4 (4 titles)

Outcome	No.	Year	Championship	Opponent in the final	Score
Winner	1.	1968	South African Amateur Championship
Winner	2.	1969	South African Amateur Championship (2)
Winner	3.	1974	South African Amateur Championship (3)	Mike Hines	7–0
Winner	4.	1977	South African Amateur Championship (4)	Ayoob Majiet