Morreira and Figueiredo Complete Brazilian Double at Pan American Snooker Championships
The Brazilian duo of Noel Rodrigues Morreira and Igor Figueiredo won titles at the 2026 Pan American Billiards & Snooker Association (PABSA) Snooker Championships in Criciúma, Brazil.
Morreira, aged 54, will be nominated for a two-year World Snooker Tour (WST) tour card for his continental success in the Open event while 2024 World Seniors Snooker (WSS) champion Figueiredo has earned a return to the iconic Crucible Theatre by winning the Seniors title on home soil.
Organised by PABSA, the Open event saw 48 cueists competing for glory in the Open Championship while 47 players took part in the Seniors Championship which preceded it.
Magic Morreira is Pan American Champion
Noel Rodrigues Morreira defeated Daniel Holoyda 4-3 on the final black to win the 2026 Pan American Open Snooker Championship.
Continental glory on home soil for Morreira will see him nominated for a two-year WST tour card for the first time at the age of 54.
He topped a six-player all-Brazilian group to advance to the knockout stages where consecutive whitewash wins over compatriots Felipe Santos Silva and Rayan Barandof Menechini earned him a place in the semi-finals.
Claudio Menechini, a former Q Tour Americas event winner, awaited Morreira in the semi-finals and it was a contest that went all the way before the eventual champion won through in a decider.
Morreira’s deciding frame experience would prove to be important once more in his title match meeting with Holoyda, from the USA, who had last beaten Canada’s Jason Williams to reach the final.
The two finalists were evenly matched all the way as the final came down to a deciding frame and it was ultimately Morreira who held his nerve to make a decisive clearance which won the title on the last black.
Figueiredo Earns Crucible Return
Igor Figueiredo beat Noel Rodrigues Morreira 4-1 to win the 2026 Pan American Seniors Snooker Championship.
The Brazilian, who won the World Seniors Championship in Sheffield back in 2024 to become the sport’s first South American world champion, will return to the iconic Crucible Theatre in 2027 as a result of his victory in Criciúma.
A total of 47 players began the event and the final four featured three Brazilians – Figueiredo, Morreira and Fabio Anderson Luersen – alongside Canada’s Jason Williams.
The first title match of the Championships came down to the two players that would go on to win the two titles on offer in Brazil as Figueiredo faced Morreira and it was Figueiredo who ran out a 4-1 winner to retain the title.
