Awad Clinches All-Africa Crown — and a Tour Card — in Thrilling Five-Set Finale
A Continent's Finest, One Decider
Fifty players travelled to South Africa with the same dream. Only one left with a World Snooker Tour card in his pocket. Mina Awad, the Egyptian cueist who had barely put a foot wrong across an entire week of competition, held his nerve in a tense best-of-11 decider to defeat South Africa's Charl Jonck 6-5 and claim the 2026 All-Africa Snooker Championship — and with it, professional status for the next two seasons.
It was the kind of final that the tournament deserved. Jonck, fresh from winning the Seniors title on home soil earlier in the week, had proven himself one of the most composed competitors in African snooker, and he brought every ounce of that composure into the title match. But Awad, who had barely dropped a frame en route to the final, found something extra when it mattered most. With the score locked at 5-5, and two years on the professional circuit hanging on a single frame, it was the Egyptian who stepped up — pot by pot, breath by breath — to get over the line.
Awad's Road to the Title
The path Awad carved through the field was quietly impressive from the very beginning. He opened the tournament with four straight group-stage victories, setting a tone of controlled authority that never really wavered. Whitewash wins over Graeme Britten and Bilal Elyas moved him comfortably into the last eight, where the competition stiffened considerably.
Quarter-final and semi-final opponents Amir Al-Tahtawy and Hesham Shawky — both Egyptians themselves — represented exactly the kind of technically sound, experienced opposition that can disrupt rhythm and momentum. Awad dealt with Al-Tahtawy 5-3 and Shawky 6-3 with the composure of someone who knew precisely what was at stake. By the time he reached the final, he had the look of a player who was not simply hoping to win a tour card — he was expecting to.
For Awad, the prize is transformative. A two-year WST tour card covering the 2026/27 and 2027/28 campaigns opens up a world of ranking events, from the UK Championship to the Masters qualifying series, and ultimately the World Championship at the Crucible. Egyptian snooker has produced talent for years — Mohamed Shehab held a tour card not long ago — and Awad now has the chance to carry that tradition forward at the sport's highest level.
Jonck's Remarkable Week
To focus only on Awad, though, would be to understate just how extraordinary Charl Jonck's week was. The South African arrived at the championships and proceeded to win two titles — the Seniors competition first, dispatching Mohamed Elkhayat 5-3 in that final after dropping just one frame in the group phase, and then pushing all the way to the last frame of the main event before being edged out by Awad.
Jonck's Seniors victory was particularly significant. Having reached the World Seniors Snooker Championship at the Crucible Theatre in 2025, he has now earned the right to return to Sheffield next May as Africa's representative once again. His route through the Seniors draw was near-flawless — victories over Habib Bulaty, Kevin Shelver, Mervin Donnelly and Abdul Mutalieb Allie (the last of those a whitewash) before overcoming defending champion Elkhayat in the final. For a player competing on home soil, it was a performance full of poise and purpose.
Rabe and Shahin Complete the Honours
The main event and Seniors titles were not the only silverware on offer in South Africa. Michelle Rabe claimed the 2026 All-Africa Women's Championship with a 3-1 victory over Nishami Surajlall in the final — a well-earned triumph for the South African, who had survived two deciding-frame battles in the earlier rounds against Nolwazi November and Amy-Claire King before composing herself for the title match. Winning on home soil, in front of a home crowd, always carries its own particular pressure, and Rabe handled it with distinction.
In the Six-Reds competition, meanwhile, Abdelrahman Shahin — who had come so close in the main event after being beaten by Jonck in the semi-finals — returned to the baize and produced his best snooker of the week, dismantling compatriot Amir Al-Tahtawy 6-2 in a one-sided final. Shahin had powered through a 45-player field with four consecutive group-stage wins, and the Six-Reds format, with its faster tempo and more open table, suited his attacking instincts perfectly.
Organised by the African Billiards & Snooker Confederation, the 2026 championships showcased a genuine depth of talent across the continent — from Egypt's dominant presence in the men's draw to South Africa's strength across the Seniors and Women's events. For Awad, though, none of that wider context will matter quite as much as what comes next: his name on a WST tour card, and a first season among the professionals waiting just around the corner.
