Igor Figueiredo can have a possibility to return to the skilled circuit firstly of the 2026/27 snooker season after profitable the Pan American Open Championship.
The favored Brazilian earned a contemporary two-year card via his victory within the worldwide novice occasion, which was staged in Sacramento final weekend.
Figueiredo comfortably emerged from his preliminary round-robin group with an ideal file of three 3-0 victories.
The 47 year-old from Rio de Janeiro subsequently beat two American potters to achieve the quarter-finals, the place he outscored Canada’s Jason Williams in a 4-1 scoreline.
In what was an all-Brazilian semi-final lineup on the Aryan Snooker Membership, Figueiredo ousted Victor Sarkis with a complete 4-0 triumph.
That took him via to the ultimate the place he confronted one other countryman, Fabio Anderson Luersen.
Figueiredo, who would have begun the event as one of many apparent favourites, raced right into a 2-0 lead solely to be pegged again together with his opponent restoring parity.
A good fifth body crucially went in favour of the previous, nonetheless, and he duly moved to throughout the brink of glory with a run of 57.
Figueiredo then took a detailed seventh body to clinch a 5-2 success, including to his maiden Pan American Championship victory from 2019.
It additionally accomplished a memorable double on the 2025 Pan American Championships following his glory within the seniors occasion earlier within the week.
Figueiredo was sporadically knowledgeable participant from 2010 till 2022 when he gave up his tour card amid the persistent journey difficulties regarding the world pandemic on the time.
A gifted potter when in full circulation, he reached the final 16 of a rating occasion on just a few events and boasted a career-high rating of quantity 65 on the earth.
His different notable success transpired on the 2024 World Seniors Championship when he beat Ken Doherty to say the title on the Crucible Theatre.
Many of the gamers who’ve been promoted to the primary tour via the Pan American Championship have in the end struggled to combine it with the elite.
However Figueiredo represents a real expertise and somebody who might do some injury on the circuit if he’s prepared to dedicate his time to the trigger.
Both manner, he can have two years to make an influence together with his standing as knowledgeable participant restored for the upcoming 2026/27 snooker season and likewise the 2027/28 time period.
Certainly, Figueiredo is the primary novice participant to safeguard his promotion for the subsequent snooker seasons.
There are different regional worldwide novice occasions such because the European Championships, the Asia-Pacific Championship, and the African Championship.
The World Snooker Federation Championships moreover present two tickets within the senior and junior classes.
Different alternatives for amateurs to get knowledgeable card can be found via competing on the Q Tour, at Q College, or on the CBSA China Tour.
2025 Pan American Open Championship
Chosen Outcomes
Final 16
Igor Figueiredo 4-1 Zia Sheik
Jason Williams 4-2 Rajnees Bansal
Victor Sarkis 4-0 Steven Wong
Levi Meiller 4-2 Tom Limor
Itaro Santos 4-2 Charlie Brown
Noel Rodrigues Moreira 4-3 Renat Denkha
Fabio Anderson Luersen 4-0 Mike Collier
Daniel Holoyda 4-0 Daren Mark Taylor
Quarter-Finals
Igor Figueiredo 4-1 Jason Williams
Victor Sarkis 4-1 Levi Meiller
Noel Rodrigues Moreira 4-2 Itaro Santos
Fabior Anderson Luersen 4-3 Daniel Holoyda
Semi-Finals
Igor Figueiredo 4-0 Victor Sarkis
Fabio Anderson Luersen 4-2 Noel Rodrigues Moreira
Ultimate
Igor Figueiredo 5-2 Fabio Anderson Luersen
Featured picture credit score: WST
