Silvino_Francisco

Silvino Francisco

Silvino Francisco

South African snooker player

Silvino Francisco (born 3 May 1946) is a South African former professional snooker player who won the 1985 British Open.

Quick Facts Born, Sport country ...

Snooker career

Francisco comes 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 have 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

Francisco suffered with gambling problems towards the end of his professional career, to the extent of being declared bankrupt in 1996 due to income tax arrears, having split up from his second wife who claimed his £350,000 house, and having to pay maintenance for his four children. He later took to working evenings in a friend's fish and chip shop for extra cash.

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

Performance and rankings timeline

More information Tournament, 1979/80 ...
More information Performance Table Legend ...
NH / Not Heldmeans an event was not held.
NR / Non-Ranking Eventmeans an event is/was no longer a ranking event.
R / Ranking Eventmeans an event is/was a ranking event.
  1. [N 1]
    He was an amateur.
  2. [N 2]
    New players on the Main Tour do not have a ranking.
  3. [N 3]
    The event was also called the Dubai Masters (1988/1989), Dubai Classic (1989/90–1994/1995) and Thailand Classic (1995/1996).
  4. [N 4]
    The event was also called the Professional Players Tournament (1982/83–1983/1984).
  5. [N 5]
    The event was also called the Goya Matchroom Trophy (1985/1986)
  6. [N 6]
    The event was also called the Thailand Masters (1983/1984–1986/1987 & 1991/1992) and the Asian Open (1989/1990–1992/1993)
  7. [N 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. [N 8]
    The event was also called the Australian Masters (1979/1980–1987/1988) and Australian Open (1994/1995)
  9. [N 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 Canada 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 South Africa Perrie Mans 5–9
Runner-up 2. 1983 Pontins Brean Sands England Tony Meo 7–9
Winner 1. 1986 South African Professional Championship South Africa 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)

More information No. ...

References

  1. [1]
    Jackson, Jamie (3 May 2009). "Back to the 80s when we were all snooker loopy". The Guardian. Archived from the original on 7 May 2023. Retrieved 13 February 2024.
  2. [2]
    "Snooker Association acquits Stevens over drug addiction". The Sydney Morning Herald. 8 October 1985. p. 41. Retrieved 1 May 2011.
  3. [3]
    Gordon Burn, Pocket Money.
  4. [4]
    "Where are they now? : Silvino Francisco". BBC Sport. 31 January 2002. Retrieved 1 May 2011.
  5. [5]
    "Ranking History". Snooker.org. Retrieved 5 December 2017.
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