Why first British Open final in 1985 remains a landmark moment in snooker history before Ronnie O'Sullivan's teenage battle with John Higgins in 1995

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The first staging of the British Open in Derby was watched by a huge audience of 15.5 million viewers on terrestrial television, with Silvino Francisco becoming the first - and so far only - South African winner of a ranking event. The former world No. 10 completed a 12-9 win over Canada's Kirk Stevens in the first major final to be contested by two players from outside Great Britain or Ireland.

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The latest staging of this week's British Open in Cheltenham provides a vastly different snooker landscape from the inaugural event 40 years ago.

The maiden British Open in 1985 will forever be recalled as the first ranking tournament to be contested without a player from Britain or Ireland reaching the final.

While the modern World Snooker Tour is represented by 23 nationalities, including 32 professionals from China, the formative years of the televised era was very much a British and Irish affair.

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This made the first British Open tournament at the Assembly Rooms in Derby ahead of its time, but also an outlier of its era.

Silvino Franciso of South Africa emerged the winner of the showpiece event courtesy of a 12-9 victory over Canada's Kirk Stevens.

The match was played over two days and three sessions - another unique factor, with two-day matches traditionally reserved for the World Championship 40 years on.

Francisco, who sadly died at the age of 78 last December, became the first and so far only South African to win a major ranking event by defeating the flamboyant Stevens with a highest break of only 65.

Franciso's career highlight, watched by 15.5 million viewers on ITV amid widespread coverage of the sport in its halycon days, invoked memories of his compatriot Perrie Mans claiming the non-ranking Masters title in 1979 that saw Mans fail to compile a break over 50 in an 8-4 win over Alex ''Hurricane' Higgins.

Contrast the breaks in the 1985 final, a century and six breaks over 50, with the 1995 final which saw John Higgins complete a 9-6 victory over fellow teenager Ronnie O'Sullivan in Plymouth that witnessed three centuries and 11 50+ breaks.

Francisco, born in Cape Town, reached the final with a last-32 win over Jimmy White (5-4) before defeating Tony Meo in the quarter-finals (5-4) and Alex Higgins in the semi-finals (9-6).

White is the only surviving member of the 1985 tournament to be competing in the 2025 version, but lost 4-2 to Liam Davies in the qualifying round.

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Stevens enjoyed his run to the final with a 5-2 win over Dennis Taylor in the last eight before edging out world champion and undisputed world No. 1 Steve Davis 9-7 in the semi-finals.

It came only a month before Taylor edged out Davis 18-17 in the historic black-ball World Championship final in Sheffield watched by 18.5m on the BBC.

Stevens produced 108, the highest break of the final, to trail Francisco 9-5 and closed to one frame behind in the final session at 9-8, before his opponent won three of the next four frames to claim the £50,000 first prize.

The aftermath of the match was marred by Francisco being fined for accusing Stevens of being "as high as a kite" during the final before the former world No. 4 from Toronto admitted later in the year to a well-publicised cocaine addiction.

After being declared bankrupt in 1996, Francisco would later do three years in prison after being caught smuggling £115,000 worth of cannabis at Dover.

Quite remarkably, the next major final without a player beyond the British Isles came almost a quarter of a century later at the 2009 Grand Prix, when Australia's Neil Robertson defeated Ding Junhui of China 9-4 in Glasgow.

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