The Esteio-RS native, 37, will be considered for a two-year professional World Snooker Tour card if he wins.
Players from Canada, the United States, Mexico, and the host country of Brazil participated in this year’s event, which was organized by the Pan American Billiards and Snooker Association (PABSA), a member of the World Snooker Federation. Eight round-robin groups of five participants were formed from the entries, and the top two players from each pool advanced to the final knockout round.
Luz won three of his four games to finish second in Group 8, losing only to former professional and table-topper Itaro Santos (Brazil).
The eventual champion overcame a decisive frame finish to upset Zico (Brazil), a recent Pan American Seniors Championship finalist, 3-2 in the round of sixteen. In the quarterfinals, he defeated Charlie Brown (Canada) 3-0 with greater ease.
Luz defeated Rafinha (Brazil) on the colors in the decisive frame of the Finals Day match, winning 4-3.
The 41-year-old Fabinho emerged from the opposite side of the draw, topping his group and eliminating Ajeya Prabhakar (USA) 3-0 in the round of 16. Fabinho didn’t drop a single frame during his whole match.
Fabinho pulled off a major upset in the round of eight when he defeated Igor Figueiredo of Brazil, the pre-tournament favorite.
The 2019 event winner, Figueiredo, a former professional, was aiming for a double crown in Rio after taking first place in the Seniors division earlier in the week. The 46-year-old’s match started off as planned when he cleared 114 in the first frame of his quarterfinal match, but Fabinho won the following three, breaking 88 in the third frame to record a thrilling 3-1 victory.
Then, in the semifinals, Fabinho crushed Daniel Holoyda’s (USA) aspirations with a 4-0 score, leading the way with a 55. Holoyda, who holds dual citizenship with Poland and the United States, defeated Santos 3-0 in the previous round.
Fabinho won the first two frames in the best-of-nine frames championship match on the colors, but Luz answered (48 break, frame three) as he
A 47 break from Fabinho in frame five looked like putting him back in front but Luz crafted a green to pink clearance to go ahead for the first time, although two efforts of 40 in frame six got the Paraná cueist back on level terms.
Luz went one up with two to play before Fabinho sent the contest all the way with a break of 54 in frame eight as he left his opponent pointless.
In a tense deciding frame for the title, whilst on a break of 43 Luz potted the third-to-last red – the ball that would leave his opponent needing a snooker – but went in-off at the same time. However, with that red ball now off the table, Fabinho needed penalty points, and his task was made even more difficult later on when he fluked a red that he didn’t want to pot. Luz later sank the final red to confirm the biggest accolade of his career to date and earn qualification to snooker’s professional circuit for the first time.
