Pierre "Perrie" Mans (25 October 1940 – 13 September 2023) was a South African professional

snooker Snooker (pronounced , ) is a cue sport played on a rectangular Billiard table#Snooker and English billiards tables, billiards table covered with a green cloth called baize, with six Billiard table#Pockets 2, pockets: one at each corner and ...

player. He first won the South African Professional Championship in 1965 and lifted the title 20 times. Mans won the Benson & Hedges Masters in 1979 and reached the final of the World Championship in 1978.

Background

Mans' father, Peter Mans, who died in 1975, was also a professional snooker player, making the quarter-finals of the 1950 World Snooker Championship.

Snooker career

Mans won the South African Amateur Championship in 1960, the only occasion in which he competed in the event. He then turned professional and took the South African Professional Championship from Fred Van Rensburg in 1965. Mans first entered the

World Snooker Championship The World Snooker Championship, or simply known as the World Championship, is the longest-running and most prestigious tournament in professional snooker. It is also the richest event to date with a total prize money of £2,395,000, including ...

in 1970. His first victory in the Championship came in the 1973 event when he defeated Ron Gross 9–2 before losing 8–16 to Eddie Charlton. However, in 1974, he pulled off a major surprise by defeating John Spencer 15–13 in the second round, before being defeated by Rex Williams in the quarter-final 4–15. In the 1976 event, he defeated Graham Miles 15–10 and Jim Meadowcroft 15–8 to reach the semi-final where he lost 10–20 to defending champion

Ray Reardon Raymond Reardon (8 October 1932 – 19 July 2024) was a Welsh professional snooker player who dominated the sport in the 1970s, winning the World Snooker Championship six times and claiming more than a dozen other professional titles. Due to h ...

. In 1977, he was invited to take part in BBC TV's ''

Pot Black ''Pot Black'' was a snooker tournament in the United Kingdom broadcast on the BBC. Each match was contested over a single , where other tournaments were significantly longer. The event carried no ranking points, but played a large part in th ...

'' programme which he duly won at his first attempt beating Fred Davis, Ray Reardon and

Willie Thorne William Joseph Thorne (4 March 195417 June 2020) was an English professional snooker player. He won one ranking title, the 1985 Classic. He also reached the final of the 1985 UK Championship, losing 16–14 to Steve Davis after leading 13– ...

(over single frames) before defeating

Doug Mountjoy Douglas James Mountjoy (8 June 1942 – 14 February 2021) was a Welsh snooker player from Tir-y-Berth, Gelligaer, Wales. He was a member of the professional snooker circuit from the late 1970s and throughout the 1980s, and remained within t ...

90 points to 21 in the final. During the final he also took the highest break prize with an effort of 59. His career peaked in 1978, when he reached the final of the

world championships A world championship is generally an international competition open to elite competitors from around the world, representing their nations, and winning such an event will be considered the highest or near highest achievement in the sport, game ...

, losing 18–25 to Ray Reardon. During that championship he defeated reigning Champion John Spencer 13–8, before achieving wins over Graham Miles (13–7) and Fred Davis (18–16). In the final, he never led Reardon, but held him to 17–18, before Reardon pulled away. He reached number two in the world rankings as a result; at that time rankings were based purely on the world championships of the three previous seasons. 1978 also saw Mans win the Heidelberg 100 event, defeating Silvino Francisco 9–3 in the final. This same year brought him greater company in the South African professional ranks when Silvino Francisco, Mannie Francisco, Jimmy van Rensberg, Derek Mienie and Roy Amdor all turned professional. Mans' most notable tournament success was the Benson and Hedges Masters in 1979, beating

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5–4, Ray Reardon 5–3 and, in the final,

Alex Higgins Alexander Gordon Higgins (18 March 1949 – 24 July 2010) was a Northern Irish professional snooker player and a two-time world champion who is remembered as one of the most iconic figures in the sport's history. Nicknamed "Hurricane Higgi ...

8–4, winning the competition with a top break of just 48. In January 1980, Mans defeated Bill Werbeniuk 3–0 and John Spencer 3–2 before losing 2–4 to Alex Higgins in the final of the Padmore/Super Crystalate International event held at the Gala Baths,

West Bromwich West Bromwich ( ), commonly known as West Brom, is a market town in the borough of Sandwell, in the county of the West Midlands (county), West Midlands, England. Historic counties of England, Historically part of Staffordshire, it is northwes ...

. In January 1981, he pulled off the shock of the season by defeating strong favourite

Steve Davis Steve Davis (born 22 August 1957) is an English retired professional snooker player who is currently a Sports commentator, commentator, DJ, electronic musician and author. He dominated professional snooker in the 1980s, when he reached eight ...

5–3 in the first round of the 1981 Masters event. Mans lost 4–5 to

in the quarter-final. In the 1982 World Championship, he defeated

Tony Meo Anthony Christian Meo (born 4 October 1959) is a retired English snooker player. He won the 1989 British Open by defeating Dean Reynolds 13–6 in the final, and was runner-up to Steve Davis at the 1984 Classic. He won four World Doubles C ...

in the first round. Meo led 3–0, but Mans overtook him to lead 9–8. This looked likely to become 9–9 when Mans trailed 54 points to 0 in the penultimate frame. However, Mans then completed a clearance of 62 to win frame and match. He went on to lose 6–13 in the next round to

Jimmy White James Warren White (born 2 May 1962) is an English professional snooker player who has won ten ranking events. Nicknamed "The Whirlwind" because of his swift and attacking style of play, White has reached six World Snooker Championship finals ...

. Mans' last victory at the

Crucible Theatre The Crucible Theatre, or simply The Crucible, is a theatre in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England, which opened in 1971. Its name refers to crucible steel, which was developed in Sheffield in 1740 and drove the industrialisation of the city. ...

came in 1983 when he defeated Scottish debutant Ian Black 10–3, compiling breaks of 57, 65 and 69. However, an in-form Kirk Stevens defeated Mans 13–3 in the second round, a defeat which put Mans outside the top 16 in the world rankings. Mans last played in the World Championship in 1986. He defeated Les Dodd 10–7 in the final qualifying round but despite holding Doug Mountjoy to 3–4, he lost his first round match 3–10. Earlier in the season he had partnered Australian John Campbell to the quarter-final of the Hofmeister World Doubles, where they lost just 4–5 to Ray Reardon and Tony Jones. Mans played in only two ranking events the following season (and the world doubles), failing to win any matches he slumped to fiftieth in the world rankings. He announced his retirement from professional snooker in July 1987 at the age of 46. After thss, he ran a business in Johannesburg, importing snooker accessories. In 1997, Mans returned briefly to the UK snooker scene after a twelve-year hiatus, participating in the "Seniors" Pot Black special on BBC2 timed to coincide with the 1997 World Championship, which marked the 20th anniversary of the tournament being held at the

. At 57, Mans lost to eventual winner Joe Johnson. Mans returned again to play in the seniors event in the autumn of 2000, losing his first match 82 points to 13 to Canadian Jim Wych.

Playing style

A left-hander, Mans was famous for his long powerful pots, as well as his fashionable waistcoats.

Death

Mans died on 13 September 2023, aged 82.

Performance and rankings timeline

Career finals

Ranking finals: 1

Non-ranking finals: 26 (23 titles)

Amateur finals: 1 (1 title)

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Mans, Perrie 1940 births 2023 deaths South African snooker players Sportspeople from Cape Town Masters (snooker) champions White South African people