ABSF African Snooker Championships
The ABSF African Snooker Championship is an annual snooker competition and is the highest ranking and most prestigious amateur event in Africa. The event series is sanctioned by the African Billiards & Snooker Federation having been established back in 1993 the winner of the event often becomes the African nomination for the World Snooker Tour. Throughout the tournaments early history the championship was dominated by South African players however at the turn of the millennium Egyptian players became the dominant force in the championship, winning 9 of 12 championships since the year 2000.
The championship is currently held by Mohamed Ibrahim who defeated Mostafa Dorgham 6–1 in the final of the 2018 championship.
Criticism
The ABSF African Snooker Championship has been criticised for being perceived as one of the weakest amateur events in world snooker with the tour card winner from the championship often struggling on the World Snooker Tour. Both 2013 runner-up Khaled Belaid Abumdas and 2015 champion Hatem Yassen failed to win a single match in the two years each of them spent on the world tour. 2012 runner-up Mohamed Khairy also struggled only managing to win two matches during his time on the world tour. The strongest criticism has suggested that in its current guise as a developing region that the tournament doesn't warrant a spot on the professional world tour and denies players of a much higher standard in Europe and Asia joining the world tour.ABSF president Mohammed Kammah has defended the standard African players stating that finance has always been the biggest obstacle for players, as well as immigration issues that most African players face when competing in UK tournaments during the professional season.
Winners
Year | Venue | Winner | Runner-up | Score |
1993 | Unknown | Ismael Teeluck | Unknown | Unknown |
1994 | Port Louis, Mauritius | Bernie Jones | Schalk Mouton | 11–10 |
1995 | Unknown | Warren Horsley | Bernie Jones | 11–8 |
1996 | Unknown | Hitesh Naran | Unknown | Unknown |
1997–1998 | Unknown | Unknown | Unknown | Unknown |
1999 | Cairo, Egypt | Warren Horsley | Munier Cassim | 6–5 |
2000 | Casablanca, Morocco | Mohamed El Hamy | Sherif Senna | 5–4 |
2001 | Unknown | Unknown | Unknown | Unknown |
2002 | Cairo, Egypt | Hesham Abbas | Wael Talaat | 5–2 |
2003–2006 | Unknown | Unknown | Unknown | Unknown |
2007 | Casablanca, Morocco | Wael Talaat | Mohamed Samy Elkhayat | 5–4 |
2008 | Tripoli, Libya | Mohamed El Hamy | Mohamed Samy Elkhayat | 6–2 |
2009 | Johannesburg, South Africa | Wael Talaat | Mohamed Samy Elkhayat | 6–0 |
2010 | Cairo, Egypt | Mohamed Samy Elkhayat | Wael Talaat | 6–1 |
2011 | Cairo, Egypt | Wael Talaat | Mohamed El Hamy | 6–4 |
2012 | Johannesburg, South Africa | Peter Francisco | Mohamed Khairy | 6–2 |
2013 | Marrakech, Morocco | Peter Francisco | Khaled Belaid Abumdas | 6–2 |
2014 | Unknown | Unknown | Unknown | Unknown |
2015 | Tunis, Tunisia | Hatem Yassen | Mohamed Khairy | 6–5 |
2016 | Sharm El-Sheikh, Egypt | Peter Francisco | Wael Talaat | 6–1 |
2017 | Hammamet, Tunisia | Basem Eltahhan | Wael Talaat | 6–5 |
2018 | Cairo, Egypt | Mohamed Ibrahim | Mostafa Dorgham | 6–1 |
2019 | Tunisia |