Snooker: Francisco rolls back the years

Silvino Francisco, the scourge of Scotland on his last Castrol Honda World Cup outing in Bangkok, completed another clean sweep in the competition, this time over Singapore.

Despite Francisco's heroics, South Africa failed to qualify for the quarter- finals and bowed out of the tournament. The 50-year-old former British Open champion, the oldest of the 60 players competing in the Thai capital, rediscovered his touch to beat Stephen Hendry, John Higgins and Alan McManus on Friday night.

With his confidence still bubbling, Francisco extended his unbeaten record to six frames out of six, dispatching Tholmas Ang, Bernard Tey and Keith Ee on Saturday. It helped South Africa claim a 5-4 victory and lift them off the bottom of Group B, though not far enough up the table to maintain their interest in the competition.

New Zealand also registered a 5-4 success in accounting for Belgium, who had earlier stunned Northern Ireland by the same scoreline.