Silvino Francisco

Silvino Francisco
birthday	3rd May 1946 (age 74)
place of birth	Cape Town
nationality	South Africa South Africa
professional	1978 - 1997
Prize money	£ 363,571
Highest break	137 ( Limosin International 1979 )
Century Breaks	13
Main tour successes
World championships	-
Ranking tournament victories	1
Minor tournament victories	-
World rankings
Highest WRL place	10 ( 1987/88 )

Silvino Francisco (born May 3, 1946 in Cape Town ) is a former South African snooker and English billiards player who became a professional player in the 1978/79 season after several amateur successes. His career, in which he celebrated his greatest success by winning the British Open in 1985 , ended after the 1996/97 season when he was sentenced to prison for cannabis smuggling and his professional career was ended.

Life

Beginnings as an amateur

Francisco was born the son of a Portuguese fisherman who emigrated to Cape Town and opened a restaurant there. After winning the South African Snooker Championship in 1968 and 1969 , he won the English Billiards counterpart in 1972 and 1973 . A year later he won the snooker championship for the third time by defeating Mike Hines 7-0. In 1975 he won the English Billiards Championship again.

1976 Francisco took with his brother Mannie brother Manuel mentioned, the finalist of the Amateur World Championship in the English Billiards and Snooker Amateur Championship was at the snooker amateur world championship in part where Silvino in the group stage, among others, Terry Griffiths and Paul Mifsud defeated and survived this. In the quarter-finals, the two brothers met directly that Silvino won 5: 1. In the semifinals, however, he failed at the eventual winner and professional player Doug Mountjoy . A year later, Francisco won the South African snooker championship again.

First professional years

For the 1978/79 season Francisco became a professional player, but in the first few years he only took part in a few tournaments, as he only moved to England in 1982. In the meantime, he advanced his career as a manager of a South African oil company. He played his first professional game as part of the South African Professional Championship in 1978 , when he lost in the final 5-9 to Perrie Mans . A year later he played with Limosin International , which took place in South Africa , where he played the highest break of his career with a 137 break in his 8: 4 win over Perrie Man . In the semifinals of the tournament he failed against the Englishman John Spencer . Shortly afterwards he took part again in the South African Professional Championship , in which Jimmy van Rensberg lost in the semifinals .

His next participation in a professional tournament, which was also his first participation in a world ranking tournament, took place shortly after he moved to England in 1982. He caused a small sensation when he won with a 9-0 win over Chris Ross and a 9 : 1 win over Paddy Morgan qualified for the finals of the Snooker World Championship at the Crucible Theater , where he surprisingly defeated Dennis Taylor and Dean Reynolds before he failed in the quarterfinals with a much higher profile to Ray Reardon . From this quarter-finals, Francisco's first place in the world rankings concluded , by which he was placed in 17th world rankings in the following season.

With this 17th place in the world ranking, Francisco only had to survive one qualifying round in the next year to qualify for the main round of the snooker world championship , which he also successfully completed with a 10: 5 win over Billy Kelly . However, this time he failed in the Crucible Theater already in the round of 32, which Dennis Taylor retaliated with a 9:10 for the previous year. Shortly thereafter, Francisco took part in the Pontins Brean Sands , where he defeated John Virgo 5-0 in the semifinals after surviving the group phase , but failed in the final with Tony Meo 7-9 . On the world rankings he could not hold his 17th place in the world ranking and slipped to 21st place.

Rise to the expanded world elite and win the British Open 1985

For 1983/84 Francisco quit his job and became a full-time professional. This season began for Francisco with a place in the quarterfinals of the International Open , where he failed to Steve Davis after victories over Mike Darrington , Kirk Stevens and Jim Donnelly . In the subsequent Professional Players Tournament , he defeated Mario Morra and George Scott , before failing in the round of 16 at the eventual winner Tony Knowles . After he failed at the Pot Black Cup after a victory over Ray Reardon to Terry Griffiths , he reached the last 16 at the Classic with a renewed victory over Mario Morra and a victory over his compatriot Cliff Thorburn , where he was eliminated by Mark Wildman . With a 10: 3 win over Jimmy van Rensberg he finally managed to qualify for the finals of the snooker world championship , in which he lost to Ray Reardon after a victory over Tony Meo in the round of 16. At the end of the season, Francisco was invited to the Pontins Professional for the first time , but where he failed again because of Reardon. On the world rankings he placed himself again on the 17th place in the world rankings.

The next season began for Francisco with the International Open , in which he defeated Billy Kelly , John Spencer and John Virgo and benefited in the quarterfinals from Dennis Taylor's abandonment without a fight - due to the sudden death of his mother - before beating Tony in the semifinals Knowles lost. After reaching the round of 16 at the Grand Prix and the round of 32 at the UK Championship , he was eliminated from the Classic in the round of 32. At the subsequent British Open he won over Tony Kearney , Jimmy White , Bob Chaperon , Tony Meo and Alex Higgins , so that he reached his first final of a ranking tournament. Francisco took the lead 5-0 and 9-4 and finally won the final against Kirk Stevens 12-9. Francisco caused the first snooker drug scandal by confronting Stevens with the accusation that Stevens would play under the influence of stimulants, and this was inadvertently recorded by a reporter who in turn published it. For Francisco the season ended with a loss to Dennis Taylor, who eventually won the tournament, in the first main round of the Snooker World Championship after he had qualified for this by defeating Paul Medati . In the world rankings he improved to 13th place.

Establishment in the top 10 of the world rankings

After three initial defeats and a semi-final participation in the Scottish Masters invitation tournament , Francisco reached the quarter-finals at the Grand Prix in the 1985/86 season , in which he failed to Steve Davis . After reaching the round of 16 at the UK Championship , he lost his opening game against Stephen Hendry at the Classic and his first game against Tony Knowles at the Masters . He then lost after defeating Tony Jones at the British Open in the round of 32 against Murdo MacLeod , before losing again to Tony Knowles after beating Rex Williams in the round of 16 of the World Snooker Championship . On the world rankings he made up another place and was listed in 12th place in the following season.

The next season began for Francisco with the victory at the South African Professional Championship , when he defeated François Ellis 9-1 in the final . He then defeated Steve Newbury , John Virgo and Dennis Taylor at the International Open before losing to his nephew Peter in the quarterfinals . Shortly thereafter, he moved into the semifinals of the Grand Prix and lost there to Jimmy White , before failing in the second main round of the UK Championship to Dean Reynolds . In the new year he reached the quarter-finals at the Classic with victories over Jimmy van Rensberg , Bob Harris and his nephew, which he lost to Stephen Hendry . Then he was invited back to the Masters because of his world rankings , where he defeated Tony Knowles before failing in the quarterfinals to Dennis Taylor. At the British Open he was eliminated by Cliff Wilson in the round of 32, before he defeated the Australian John Campbell in the main round of the Snooker World Championship , only to lose a round later to Mike Hallett . The following season, Francisco was listed in tenth place, which remained his best world ranking.

The 1987/88 season started for Francisco with wins over Warren King and Bill Werbeniuk and a loss to Eugene Hughes in the quarterfinals at the International Open , before failing at the Grand Prix in the round of 32 to Gary Wilkinson . He then reached the round of 16 at both the UK Championship and the Classic , where he was eliminated by Terry Griffiths and Stephen Hendry . After an opening defeat at the Masters , he also lost at the British Open in the round of 32 against Gary Wilkinson, before Francisco ended the season with a 7-10 defeat against Eddie Charlton in the first main round of the World Snooker Championship . On the world rankings, he slipped back to twelfth place.

Years in the top 30 and betting scandal at the Masters in 1989

After a loss in the round of 32 of the International Open against Bob Chaperon , Francisco lost the following two opening games against Nigel Gilbert and Murdo MacLeod in the 1988/89 season . At the UK Championship he defeated Paul Medati 9: 8 and then lost to Barry West , before he benefited from Bill Werbeniuks without a fight at the Classic and failed to John Parrott after defeating Tony Meo . Shortly afterwards he lost at the Masters 5-1 to Terry Griffiths and thus triggered a betting scandal, as there were numerous bets on this result. Francisco was arrested as a result, but shortly thereafter he was released without charge because it was believed that particularly high odds were the trigger for the numerous bets. However, Francisco also drew attention to himself through other competition disagreements, a broken wedding and visual disturbances, but his results worsened. So he had to take two more defeats in the beginning , so that he only won a game against Joe O'Boye as part of the World Snooker Championship, only to fail in the second round to Terry Griffiths. Furthermore, he had reached the final of the World Cup with the Rest of the World team around the New Zealander Dene O'Kane , the Maltese Tony Drago and himself during the season , to 8: 9 against the English team around Steve Davis , Jimmy White and Neal Foulds to fail. In the world rankings he had meanwhile slipped out of the top 16 and finished in 23rd place in the coming season, through which he was no longer invited to the Masters and had to qualify for the finals of the World Snooker Championship.

After an opening defeat at the beginning of the next season , Francisco reached the quarter-finals of the Asian Open by victories over John Spencer , Ian Graham and Tony Knowles , in which he failed against the Thai local hero James Wattana . In the following four tournaments, however, Francisco only won his opening game at the International Open , only to fail shortly afterwards to Nigel Bond . After he had reached the round of 32 at the UK Championship after beating Steve Longworth and lost there to Alain Robidoux , he reached the semi-finals at the Classic after victories over Colin Roscoe , Ian Brumby , Mark Rowing and Dene O'Kane, in which he had to admit defeat to the Australian Warren King . He then lost his opening game at the British Open and was eliminated from the European Open in the round of 32 against Mark Bennett , before ending the season with a 7-10 defeat in the final qualifying round for the Snooker World Championship against Gary Wilkinson . He lost three more places on the world rankings.

The 1990/91 season began with an opening defeat before Francisco reached the round of 32 at the Grand Prix . Francisco then reached the round of 16 at both the Asian Open and the Dubai Classic and also at the UK Championship , where he gave up without a fight and lost to Gary Wilkinson and Alan McManus . McManus was also his winner for Francisco at the Benson and Hedges Satellite Championship after victories over Franky Chan , Steve Duggan and Marcel Gauvreau in the round of 32, before he after an opening defeat at the Classic in the men's individual competition at the World Masters in the round of last 32 failed at Mike Hallett . He was also eliminated from the British Open in that same round before ending the season with two opening defeats. Francisco won two places in the world rankings and was able to make up ground.

Crash to world number 57

At the start of the 1991/92 season , Francisco took part in the World Seniors Championship , in which he failed after a victory over Alex Higgins in the quarterfinals to Eddie Charlton . He then failed in the round of 32 at the Dubai Classic after beating Craig Edwards to Martin Clark , before he reached the round of 16 at the Grand Prix with victories over Steve Duggan and Dean Reynolds , where he failed to Stephen Hendry . After he had reached the round of 16 at the Benson and Hedges Satellite Championship and lost there to Tony Drago , he suffered an opening defeat against David McDonnell at the UK Championship . He then moved into the round of 32 at the Classic , the Asian Open , the Welsh Open and the British Open , only to lose to Alain Robidoux , Martin Clark, Neal Foulds and Gary Wilkinson . At the end of the season, however, he lost three opening games in a row and therefore lost four places in the world rankings.

The next season began for Francisco with a place in the round of 32 of the Dubai Classics , where he failed after a victory over Troy Shaw to Willie Thorne , before he went to the round of the last after a defeat at the Grand Prix at the Benson & Hedges Championship 64 reached. He then lost two opening games in a row before reaching the round of 64 at two events of the Strachan Challenge and the round of 32 at the Welsh Open . After suffering an opening defeat at the European Open , he also lost his opening game at the Asian Open after a second round defeat against Ian Graham at the British Open . Shortly thereafter, he moved into the round of 16 at the International Open, defeating Steve Davis there , before ending the season with a 6:10 defeat by Brian Morgan in the final qualifying round for the World Snooker Championship . On the world rankings, he slipped to 33rd place.

The 1993/94 season began for Francisco with a move into the round of the last 64 of the Dubai Classics and a local defeat to Steve Meakin , before he had to accept five opening defeats in a row. He lost mainly to aspiring touring beginners such as the eventual world champion John Higgins, but also Stephen Lee , but also to long-time professionals such as Tommy Murphy . At the International Open he finally moved to the round of 64 and lost there to Stephen Hendry , then he reached the round of 64 at the first event of the Strachan Challenge in 1994 to lose to Robert Marshall . But Francisco ended the season with four more defeats, including against Mark Williams and Mark King . For this reason, Francisco slipped to the 57th world rankings at the end of the season.

Last professional years and end of professional career with prison sentence in 1997

As in the previous season, Francisco began the 1994/95 season with a place in the round of 64 at the Dubai Classic , before suffering four defeats at the beginning. He then moved into the round of 64 at both the Welsh Open and the International Open , only to fail there at Stephen Hendry and Jason Ferguson . Francisco ended the season with three more defeats, so that it fell to 81st place in the world rankings.

The next season began for Francisco with an opening defeat at the Thailand Classic against Dermot McGlinchey , before he reached the round of 64 at the Grand Prix by victories over Jamie Bodle , John Bayliss and Alex Higgins and failed there against Willie Thorne . After an opening defeat at the UK Championship , he defeated the Englishman Paul Clarke at the German Open , only to fail in the round of 128 at Yasin Merchant . He then lost three opening games until he defeated Mike Dunn at the Thailand Open and then failed to Robert Milkins . At the end of the season Francisco lost his two opening games against John Lardner and Graeme Dott , so that he fell to the 125th world rankings.

The 1996/97 season was overshadowed by personal problems for Francisco. Francisco, who was known as a frequent gamer , was unable to meet a £ 100,000 tax claim in December 1996 and was subsequently declared bankrupt. At the same time he could not hope for financial help from his nephew Peter also, as this because betting fraud had been blocked . In terms of play, he started the season with a victory over Alfie Burden and the associated move into the round of the last 128 of the Asian Classics , where he lost to Martin Dziewialtowski . After four opening defeats he reached the round of the last 128 of the European Open and lost there to Gerard Greene , before moving into the round of 64 at the Thailand Open with wins over Munraj Pal , Troy Shaw and Karl Broughton to go to Dominic Dale to fail. He ended the season with two further defeats, including a 6:10 defeat by Paul Sweeny in qualifying for the World Snooker Championship . At the end of the season, Francisco fell to 166th in the world rankings. As Francisco's fortune continued to decline, he worked at night in a fish and chip shop to make at least some money. Franciscos also needed the money he made on the pro tour, but he was arrested after the season in Dover with cannabis when cannabis worth £ 155,000 was found in his car. As a result, he was charged with smuggling cannabis. Although he said he was hired to do so, he pleaded guilty and reluctantly gave the names of the people behind it, and subsequently served a three-year prison sentence. As a result, his career was forcibly ended.

successes

output	year	competition	Final opponent	Result
Amateur tournaments
winner	1968	South African Snooker Championship	unknown
winner	1969	South African Snooker Championship
winner	1972	South African English Billiards Championship
winner	1973	South African English Billiards Championship
winner	1974	South African Snooker Championship	Mike Hines	7-0
winner	1975	South African English Billiards Championship	unknown
Professional tournaments
Second	1978	South African Professional Championship	Perrie Mans	5: 9
Second	1983	Pontin's Brean Sands	Tony Meo	7: 9
winner	1985	British Open	Kirk Stevens	12: 9
winner	1986	South African Professional Championship	François Ellis	9: 1
Team competitions
Second	1989	World Cup with Dene O'Kane and Tony Drago	Steve Davis Jimmy White Neal Foulds	8: 9

Others

Francisco is the brother of Manuel "Mannie" Francisco , who was able to record several successes as an amateur, as well as the uncle of Peter Francisco , who also celebrated several amateur successes and was at times 14th in the world rankings on the professional tour. Francisco himself worked for the snooker table manufacturer Thurston’s for fourteen years , which is why he is one of the few snooker players who can both assemble and play a table.

Web links

• Profile of Silvino Francisco on CueTracker
• Silvino Francisco in the Snooker Database (English)

Individual evidence

1. ↑ ^{a b c d} Ron Florax: Career Total Statistics For Silvino Francisco - Professional Results. CueTracker.net, accessed on May 18, 2019 .  
2. ↑ ^{a b c d e f g h i j} Jamie Watkins: Player Profile: Silvino Francisco. (No longer available online.) Global Snooker Center, 2002, archived from the original on March 7, 2005 ; accessed on May 18, 2019 .  
3. ↑ Ron Florax: Silvino Francisco - Season 1974-1975 - Non-professional Results. CueTracker.net, accessed on May 18, 2019 .  
4. ↑ Ron Florax: Silvino Francisco - Season 1976-1977 - Non-professional Results. CueTracker.net, accessed on May 18, 2019 .  
5. ↑ Ron Florax: Silvino Francisco - Season 1978-1979 - Professional Results. CueTracker.net, accessed on May 18, 2019 .  
6. ↑ Ron Florax: Silvino Francisco - Season 1979-1980 - Professional Results. CueTracker.net, accessed on May 18, 2019 .  
7. ↑ Ron Florax: Silvino Francisco - Season 1981-1982 - Professional Results. CueTracker.net, accessed on May 18, 2019 .  
8. ↑ ^{a b c d e f g h i j k l m n} Ron Florax: Ranking History For Silvino Francisco. CueTracker.net, accessed on May 18, 2019 .  
9. ↑ Ron Florax: Silvino Francisco - Season 1982-1983 - Professional Results. CueTracker.net, accessed on May 18, 2019 .  
10. ↑ Ron Florax: Silvino Francisco - Season 1983-1984 - Professional Results. CueTracker.net, accessed on May 18, 2019 .  
11. ↑ Ron Florax: Silvino Francisco - Season 1984-1985 - Professional Results. CueTracker.net, accessed on May 18, 2019 .  
12. ↑ Ron Florax: Silvino Francisco - Season 1985-1986 - Professional Results. CueTracker.net, accessed on May 18, 2019 .  
13. ↑ Ron Florax: Silvino Francisco - Season 1986-1987 - Professional Results. CueTracker.net, accessed on May 18, 2019 .  
14. ↑ Ron Florax: Silvino Francisco - Season 1987-1988 - Professional Results. CueTracker.net, accessed on May 18, 2019 .  
15. ↑ ^{a b} Ron Florax: Silvino Francisco - Season 1988-1989 - Professional Results. CueTracker.net, accessed on May 18, 2019 .  
16. ^ Ronnie O'Sullivan , Simon Hattenstone: Running . 3. Edition. Copress Verlag, Grünwald 2017, ISBN 978-3-7679-1167-3 , pp.  203 (English: Running . London 2013. Translated by Johannes Kratzsch).
17. ↑ Chris Turner: World Cup / World Team Classic / Nations Cup - Team Events. (No longer available online.) Chris Turner's Snooker Archive, 2011, archived from the original on January 7, 2012 ; accessed on May 18, 2019 .  
18. ↑ Ron Florax: Silvino Francisco - Season 1989-1990 - Professional Results. CueTracker.net, accessed on May 18, 2019 .  
19. ↑ Ron Florax: Silvino Francisco - Season 1990-1991 - Professional Results. CueTracker.net, accessed on May 18, 2019 .  
20. ↑ Ron Florax: Silvino Francisco - Season 1991-1992 - Professional Results. CueTracker.net, accessed on May 18, 2019 .  
21. ↑ Ron Florax: Silvino Francisco - Season 1992-1993 - Professional Results. CueTracker.net, accessed on May 18, 2019 .  
22. ↑ Ron Florax: Silvino Francisco - Season 1993-1994 - Professional Results. CueTracker.net, accessed on May 18, 2019 .  
23. ↑ Ron Florax: Silvino Francisco - Season 1994-1995 - Professional Results. CueTracker.net, accessed on May 18, 2019 .  
24. ↑ Ron Florax: Silvino Francisco - Season 1995-1996 - Professional Results. CueTracker.net, accessed on May 18, 2019 .  
25. ↑ Ron Florax: Silvino Francisco - Season 1996-1997 - Professional Results. CueTracker.net, accessed on May 18, 2019 .  
26. ↑ Where are they now? BBC Sport , January 31, 2002, accessed May 18, 2019 .  
27. ^ Duncan Mackay: Sportsmen who went to jail. The Guardian , February 3, 2002, accessed May 18, 2019 .