South African Professional Championship

South African Professional Championship

Tournament information
Country	South Africa
Established	1948
Format	Non-ranking event
Final year	1989
Final champion	Perrie Mans

The South African Professional Championship was a professional snooker tournament which was open only for South African players.

History

South Africa held a professional championship beginning in 1948. As with Australia it was originally held as a challenge match until 1984 (the only exception to this was 1979, when five players competed), when the WPBSA offered a subsidy of £1,000 per man to any country holding a national professional championship. This subsidy ended in 1988/1989 after which date most national championships were discontinued, with Perrie Mans winning the final edition of the tournament.

Winners

Year	Winner	Runner-up	Final score	Venue	Season
Challenge matches
1948–1950	Peter Mans	various challenges	n/a
1950–1965	Fred Van Rensburg	various challenges
1965–1977	Perrie Mans	various challenges
1978	Perrie Mans	Silvino Francisco	9–5		1978/79
Knockout tournament
1979	Derek Mienie	Jimmy van Rensberg	9–6		1979/80
Challenge matches
1980–1984	Perrie Mans	various challenges	n/a
1984	Jimmy van Rensberg	Perrie Mans	10–7		1983/84
Knockout tournaments
1986	Silvino Francisco	Francois Ellis	9–1	Johannesburg	1986/87
1988	Francois Ellis	Jimmy van Rensberg	9–4	Germiston	1987/88
1989	Perrie Mans	Robbie Grace	8–5	Johannesburg	1988/89