natpro

Other National Professional Championships

Non Ranking Event

Brief History

Australia, Canada and South Africa held their own professional championships at various stages until the late 1980s. In 1984 the WPBSA offered a subsidy of £1000 per man to any country holding a national pro championship. This subsidy ended in 1988/9 after which date most of these champiopnsips lapsed.

In recent years these countries have produced very few professional players and so a championship has not been viable.

Details of the professional championships of England, Scotland, Ireland & Wales can be found on other pages.

Roll Of Honour

Australian Professional Championship

From 1963 to 1975 the Australian Professional Champioship had been held on a challenge basis and dominated by Eddie Charlton who won ten times in that period. There was no event in 1975 and it became a knockout tournament in 1977 and again in 1978. It was then not held until 1984 when the WPBSA offered a subsidy of £1000 per man to any country holding a national pro championship. This subsidy ended in 1988/9 after which date most of these champiopnsips lapsed.

Year	Venue	Sponsor	Winner	Runner Up	Score	1st Prize
1963	Bankstown	none	Warren Simpson	Norman Squire	RR	n/a
1964	Newcastle	none	Eddie Charlton	Warren Simpson	RR	n/a
1964(2)	Sutherland	none	Norman Squire	Eddie Charlton	RR	n/a
1966	Harbord	none	Eddie Charlton	Warren Simpson	?	n/a
1967	South Sydney	none	Eddie Charlton	Warren Simpson	?	n/a
1968	South Sydney	none	Warren Simpson	Eddie Charlton	?	n/a
1969	Auckland	none	Eddie Charlton	Warren Simpson	11-6	n/a
1970	?	none	Eddie Charlton	Norman Squire	RR	n/a
1971	Sydney	none	Eddie Charlton	Warren Simpson	11-7	n/a
1972	?	none	Eddie Charlton	Gary Owen	19-10	n/a
1973	Wagga Wagga	none	Eddie Charlton	Gary Owen	31-10	n/a
1974	Wagga Wagga	none	Eddie Charlton	Warren Simpson	44-17	n/a
1975	?	none	Eddie Charlton	Dennis Wheelwright	31-10	n/a
1976	Melbourne	none	Eddie Charlton	Paddy Morgan	w/o	n/a
1977	Golden Bowl, Melbourne	none	Eddie Charlton	Paddy Morgan	25-21	n/a
1978	?	none	Eddie Charlton	Ian Anderson	?	n/a
1984	RSL Club, Dubbo	Toohey's Brewerey	Eddie Charlton	Warren King	10-3	n/a
1985	Orange RSL, Sydney	none	John Campbell	Eddie Charlton	10-7	£4,250
1986	Wooloongong, Sydney	none	Warren King	John Campbell	10-3	£3,061
1987	Lakemba Club, Sydney	none	Warren King	Eddie Charlton	10-7	£2,222
1988	Roots Hill, Sydney	none	John Campbell	Robby Foldvari	19-7	£1,905

RR= Event played over round robin format

Canadian Professional Championship

The first official Canadian Pro Championship was in 1983 but there was an unofficial one held three years earlier. As with Australia the event was discontinued after 1988/9.

Year	Venue	Sponsor	Winner	Runner Up	Score	1st Prize
1980	?	none	Cliff Thorburn	Jim Wych	9-6	n/a
1983	?	none	Kirk Stevens	Frank Jonic	9-8	n/a
1984	?	none	Cliff Thorburn	Mario Morra	9-2	n/a
1985	Toronto	none	Cliff Thorburn	Bob Chaperon	6-4	£3,000
1986	Toronto	none	Cliff Thorburn	Jim Wych	6-2	£2,900
1987	Scarborough, Ontario	none	Cliff Thorburn	Jim Bear	8-4	£3,000
1988	Toronto	none	Alain Robidoux	Jim Wych	8-4	£6,750

South African Professional Championship

South Africa held a professional championship way back in 1948. As with Australia it was originally held as a challenge and I have only listed the champions and the period they held the title for those events. Knockout events were held during the years of WPBSA subsidy but like the others they lapsed at the end of the 1980s.

Year	Venue	Sponsor	Winner	Runner Up	Score	1st Prize
1948-50	n/a	none	Peter Mans	n/a	n/a	n/a
1950-65	n/a	none	Freddie van Rensberg	n/a	n/a	n/a
1965-77	n/a	none	Perrie Mans	n/a	n/a	n/a
1978	n/a	none	Perrie Mans	Silvino Francisco	9-5	n/a
1979	n/a	none	Derek Meanie	Jimmy van Rensberg	9-6	n/a
1980-84	n/a	none	Perrie Mans	n/a	n/a	n/a
1984	?	none	Jimmy van Resberg	Perrie Mans	10-7	?
1985	no information available	none	Jimmy van Resberg	Perrie Mans	10-7	?
1986	no information available	none	Jimmy van Resberg	Perrie Mans	10-7	?
1987	Johannesburg	none	Silvino Francisco	Francois Ellis	9-1	£1,800
1988	Germiston	none	Francois Ellis	Jimmy van Rensberg	9-4	£4,000
1987	Johannesburg	none	Perrie Mans	Robbie Grace	8-5	£5,063