Awad is the 2026 All-Africa Snooker Champion
Mina Awad defeated Charl Jonck 6-5 in the final of the 2026 All-Africa Snooker Championship to earn a two-year World Snooker Tour (WST) tour card for the first time.
The Egyptian cueist came through a field of 50 cueists in South Africa to lift the continental crown and earn professional status for the 2026/27 and 2027/28 campaigns.
Organised by the African Billiards & Snooker Confederation (ABSC), the event began with a group phase which saw Awad advance with four straight victories.
Whitewash wins over Graeme Britten and Bilal Elyas earned Awad a place in the last eight of the competition and he followed this up with defeats of Amir Al-Tahtawy (5-3) and Hesham Shawky (6-3) to reach the title match.
There, he faced South Africa’s Jonck, who had followed up victory in the Seniors competition on home soil by last defeated Six-Reds champion Abdelrahman Shahin 6-4 to move within one win of the WST.
The best-of-11 frame final was a closely-contested match with little between Awad and Jonck, but it was ultimately the Egyptian who was able to get over the line and secure an emotional victory.
Jonck Earns Crucible Return with Seniors Success
Charl Jonck earned a return to the Crucible Theatre by defeating Mohamed Elkhayat 5-3 in the final of the 2026 All-Africa Seniors Snooker Championship.
Jonck, who previously reached the World Seniors Snooker Championship at the sport’s most iconic venue back in 2025, will return to Sheffield next May as the African representative.
The South African dropped just a single frame in the group phase before downing Habib Bulaty (3-0), Kevin Shelver (4-1), Mervin Donnelly (4-1) and Abdul Mutalieb Allie (5-0) to set up a final meeting with the defending champion.
Elkhayat had beaten Mohamed Limbada 5-1 in the semi-finals and was aiming to earn a return to the Crucible Theatre following defeat to Igor Figueiredo in the opening round earlier this year.
It proved to be Jonck’s day, however, as he ran out a 5-3 victor to regain the Seniors title on home soil.
Rabe Wins Women’s Title
Michelle Rabe beat Nishami Surajlall 3-1 to win the 2026 All-Africa Women’s Snooker Championship title.
The South African cueist won through a seven-player field to lift the continental title on home soil.
Consecutive deciding frame victories over Nolwazi November (2-1) and Amy-Claire King (3-2) earned Rabe a place in the final.
Her title match opponent was Surajlall, who had beaten Anmari Du Toit 3-1 in the semi-finals. Rabe proved to be the stronger cueist in the final, however, as she earned a 3-1 victory to lift the title.
Shahin Shines in Six-Reds
Abdelrhman Shahin defeated Amir Al-Tahtawy 6-2 in the final of the Six-Red competition at the 2026 All-Africa Snooker Championships.
A total of 45 players contested the event, which began with a group phase that saw Shahin storm through with four straight victories.
The Egyptian, who also reached the semi-finals of the Main competition, then beat Muhammad Adnan (4-0), Mohamed Hamouda (5-4), Tauriq Samsodien (5-3) and Abdul Mutalieb Allie (6-3) to reach the final.
Al-Tahtawy had come through a deciding frame against Omar Ramy in the semi-finals but proved no match for Shahin on this occasion as the Egyptian earned a 6-2 win the secure the title.
