He was once in prison for drug smuggling
South African snooker star dies aged 78
December 28, 2024 – 8:29 p.mReading time: 2 minutes
He was a colorful figure in 1980s snooker. Now Silvino Francisco is dead. The South African is also remembered for an offense outside of sport.
Former snooker player Silvino Francisco has died at the age of 78. The World Snooker Tour officially announced this on the night from Friday to Saturday. Several international media outlets subsequently reported unanimously on Francisco’s death.
In the past few days, rumors had been circulating on social networks that the former number ten in the world had died. In fact, the British funeral home A. Wass Funeral Directors Ltd. Francisco’s death was made public on a mourning page on December 23rd. Accordingly, the ex-athlete died on December 14th. His funeral is scheduled to take place on December 30th.
Francisco was born in South Africa and came from a billiard-loving family. His brother Mannie, who died in 2020, won the South African Snooker Championship six times, among other things. His nephew Peter would later make it into the top 14 in the world rankings.
Silvino Francisco started playing professionally in 1981. His greatest success: winning the British Open in Derby. In the final he beat Kirk Stevens 12:9. 15.5 million viewers watched the game on ITV. Fancisco collected 50,000 British pounds (the equivalent of more than 60,000 euros) for his victory, a record prize money in snooker at the time.
To date, Francisco is the only African player to win a ranking tournament and remains the most successful player on his continent. He was in the top 16 in the world rankings for four years in a row.
But he didn’t just attract attention at the pool table. Over time, Francisco was no longer able to build on his old successes and achievements. As the English newspaper “Mirror” reports, among others, he fell back in the world rankings to 166th place and began working in a fast food restaurant in Rainworth, Nottinghamshire.
In 1997, Francisco was sentenced to three years in prison. He had smuggled cannabis worth 155,000 British pounds (around 187,000 euros).