Silvino Francisco dead: African snooker legend and British Open champion, dies at 78

Born on May 3, 1946, in Cape Town, Francisco hailed from a family deeply rooted in cue sports. His brother, Manuel Francisco, was a notable runner-up in the World Amateur Billiards Championship on several occasions, and his nephew, Peter Francisco, achieved a world ranking of number 14 in professional snooker.

Francisco turned professional in 1981 and a year later, he reached the quarter-finals of the World Snooker Championship in Sheffield, a run that included a victory over Dennis Taylor before a loss to Ray Reardon.

The peak of his career came in 1985 when he won the British Open, defeating Kirk Stevens 12-9 in the final. This victory cemented his status as a top-tier player, and he was ranked among the world's top 16 for four consecutive seasons, achieving a career-high ranking of 10th in the 1987/88 season.

But he courted controversy after his 1985 British Open win, as he accused Kirk Stevens of playing under the influence of drugs, a claim that led to a fine, which was later reversed after Stevens admitted to a cocaine addiction. In 1989, following a 5-1 loss to Terry Griffiths at the Masters, Francisco was arrested amid suspicions of match-fixing due to unusual betting patterns but was released without charge.

In the latter part of his life, Francisco was declared bankrupt in 1996 due to income tax arrears and briefly worked in a friend's fish and chip shop to make ends meet. In 1997, he was arrested for smuggling cannabis and served three years in prison.