Mannie Francisco

Mannie Francisco
birthday	20th century
date of death	2020
nationality	South Africa
Success in snooker
Active time	Professional: 1986-1992
World championships	1 × finalist ( IBSF 1972 )
National championships	6 × winners
Century Break	-
Success in English Billiards
World championships	1 × finalist ( IBSF 1971 )
National championships	13 × winners
Highest series	at least 518

Manuel "Mannie" Francisco (* in the 20th century ; † 2020 ), sometimes also called " Manny ", was a South African English billiards and snooker player who won the South African snooker championship six times and the South African English billiards championship 13 times and could reach the final of the Amateur World Championship in Snooker and English Billiards . In addition, he was a professional player at least in snooker between 1986 and 1992.

Career

Francisco comes from a family in which several people played snooker and / or English billiards at a high level. His brother Silvino was a professional player for years and won a ranking tournament, while Mannie's son Peter also became a professional snooker player and reached 14th place in the world. Mannie's and Silvino's father was a Portuguese fisherman who emigrated to Cape Town and opened a restaurant with two snooker tables there. Both Silvino and Peter were convicted of match fixing during their careers; Silvino also ended up in jail for drug smuggling.

Francisco achieved his first two major successes when he won both the South African Snooker Championship and the South African English Billiards Championship in 1959 . Between 1961 and 1966 he then continuously won the English Billiards tournament, which was accompanied by a winning streak between 1964 and 1966 at the snooker championship. In 1964, for example, he defeated Jimmy van Rensberg , one of the best South African players of his time, in the final of the snooker tournament . In 1965 he also played an exhibition match against Rex Williams in Cape Town , during which Williams played a maximum break , which was very rare at the time . In the same year he played a series of 518 points in English Billiards, which meant for him as an amateur player the establishment of a world record for the highest break by an amateur player. In the following years he was mostly defeated by van Rensberg or his brother Silvino in snooker, but between 1968 and 1971 he won the English Billiards championship four more times. In 1971 he won the snooker tournament again, and in the same year he was able to reach second place - behind the Englishman Norman Dagley - at the English Billiards Amateur World Championship . In 1972 he reached the final of the World Amateur Snooker Championship , but lost to Ray Edmonds with 10:11. A year later he was invited to the Norwich Union Open , but lost to Sid Hood in the round of 16 .

1974 Francisco was able to record another title win at the South African English Billiards Championship; In 1975 he succeeded in winning the snooker counterpart again. In 1976 he reached the quarter-finals of the World Amateur Snooker Championship , but lost there to his brother Silvino. In 1977 he succeeded in winning a South African championship for the last time when he was the 13th winner of the English billiards tournament. In 1979 he was invited to two professional tournaments - namely the Limosin International and the South African Professional Championship - but lost his opening games in both cases. Between 1986 and 1992 Francisco dared a professional career, but only played one game when he lost his opening game against Tony Wilson in qualifying for the 1989 World Snooker Championship .

Francisco died at the end of June or beginning of July 2020 - in a Facebook post from the International Billiards & Snooker Federation on July 5, 2020, they reported on the death of Francisco “last week”. The IBSF recognized Francisco's contribution to the development of English Billiards in South Africa and his contribution to the spread of snooker in his home country. Ex-player Munier Cassim regretted that South Africa had lost "one of their billiards legends" with Francisco.

Successes (selection)

Only the finals with known results are shown; Francisco won the South African Snooker Championship six times and the English Billiards counterpart thirteen times .

output	year	competition	Final opponent	Result
Amateur tournaments
winner	1964	South African Snooker Championship	Jimmy van Rensberg	4: 3
Second	1971	English World Amateur Billiards Championship	Norman Dagley	Group stage
winner	1972	Amateur Snooker World Championship	Ray Edmonds	10:11

Web links

• Profile of Mannie Francisco on CueTracker
• Mannie Francisco in the Snooker Database (English)
• Profile of Mannie Francisco at the Global Snooker Center (archived)

Individual evidence

1. ↑ ^{a b} Munier Cassim: untitled . Facebook , July 5, 2020, accessed on July 24, 2020 .  
2. ↑ Player Profile: Silvino Francisco. (No longer available online.) Globalsnookercentre.co.uk, archived from the original on March 7, 2005 ; accessed on July 25, 2020 (English).  
3. ^ Gary Lemke: Higgins Joins snooker's list of rogue stars . In: BusinessDay . May 27, 2010.
4. ↑ ^{a b c d e} Honor list. (No longer available online.) South African Billiards and Snooker Association, 2001, archived from the original on July 20, 2004 ; accessed on July 24, 2020 (English).  
5. ↑ Ron Florax: Mannie Francisco - Season 1963-1964 - Non-professional Results. CueTracker.net, accessed on July 24, 2020 .  
6. ^ Calendar of Events in the History of English Billiards and Snooker. snookergames.co.uk, accessed July 24, 2020 .  
7. ^ Billiards and pool: Profiles. (No longer available online.) Myfundi, archived from the original on July 11, 2012 ; accessed on July 24, 2020 (English).  
8. ↑ Past Champions. IBSF , 2019, accessed on July 24, 2020 .  
9. ↑ Ron Florax: Mannie Francisco - Season 1972-1973 - Non-professional Results. CueTracker.net, accessed on July 24, 2020 .  
10. ↑ Ron Florax: Mannie Francisco - Season 1973-1974 - Professional Results. CueTracker.net, accessed on July 24, 2020 .  
11. ↑ Ron Florax: Mannie Francisco - Season 1976-1977 - Non-professional Results. CueTracker.net, accessed on July 24, 2020 .  
12. ↑ Ron Florax: Mannie Francisco - Season 1979-1980 - Professional Results. CueTracker.net, accessed on July 24, 2020 .  
13. ^ Ron Florax: Ranking History For Mannie Francisco. CueTracker.net, accessed on July 24, 2020 .  
14. ↑ Ron Florax: Mannie Francisco - Season 1988-1989 - Professional Results. CueTracker.net, accessed on July 24, 2020 .  
15. ↑ International Billiards & Snooker Federation : untitled. Facebook , July 5, 2020, accessed on July 24, 2020 .