Pierre "Perrie"Mans (25 October 1940 – 13 September 2023) was a South African professionalsnooker player. He first won theSouth African Professional Championship in 1965 and lifted the title 20 times. Mans won theBenson & Hedges Masters in 1979 and reached the final of theWorld Championship in 1978.

Mans' father,Peter Mans, who died in 1975, was also a professional snooker player,^[1] making the quarter-finals of the 1950 World Snooker Championship.

Mans won theSouth African Amateur Championship in 1960, the only occasion in which he competed in the event. He then turned professional and took theSouth African Professional Championship fromFred Van Rensburg in 1965.^[2]

Mans first entered theWorld Snooker Championship in 1970. His first victory in the Championship came in the 1973 event when he defeatedRon Gross 9–2 before losing 8–16 toEddie Charlton.^[3] However, in 1974, he pulled off a major surprise by defeatingJohn Spencer 15–13 in the second round, before being defeated byRex Williams in the quarter-final 4–15.^[4] In the 1976 event, he defeatedGraham Miles 15–10 andJim Meadowcroft 15–8 to reach the semi-final where he lost 10–20 to defending championRay Reardon.^[5]

In 1977, he was invited to take part in BBC TV'sPot Black programme which he duly won at his first attempt beatingFred Davis, Ray Reardon andWillie Thorne (over single frames) before defeatingDoug Mountjoy 90 points to 21 in the final. During the final he also took the highest break prize with an effort of 59.^[6]

His career peaked in 1978, when he reached the final of theworld championships, losing 18–25 to Ray Reardon. During that championship he defeated reigning Champion John Spencer 13–8, before achieving wins over Graham Miles (13–7) and Fred Davis (18–16). In the final, he never led Reardon, but held him to 17–18, before Reardon pulled away.^[7] He reached number two in the world rankings as a result; at that time rankings were based purely on the world championships of the three previous seasons.^[8]

1978 also saw Mans win the Heidelberg 100 event, defeatingSilvino Francisco 9–3 in the final. This same year brought him greater company in the South African professional ranks when Silvino Francisco,Mannie Francisco,Jimmy van Rensberg,Derek Mienie andRoy Amdor all turned professional.^[9]

Mans' most notable tournament success was theBenson and Hedges Masters in 1979, beatingCliff Thorburn 5–4, Ray Reardon 5–3 and, in the final,Alex Higgins 8–4, winning the competition with a top break of just 48.^[10]

In January 1980, Mans defeatedBill Werbeniuk 3–0 andJohn Spencer 3–2 before losing 2–4 to Alex Higgins in the final of thePadmore/Super Crystalate International event held at theGala Baths,West Bromwich.^[11]

In January 1981, he pulled off the shock of the season by defeating strong favouriteSteve Davis 5–3 in the first round of the 1981 Masters event, compiling a highest break of just 36. Mans lost 4–5 toCliff Thorburn in the quarter-final.^[12]

In the 1982 World Championship, he defeatedTony Meo in the first round. Meo led 3–0, but Mans overtook him to lead 9–8. This looked likely to become 9–9 when Mans trailed 54 points to 0 in the penultimate frame. However, Mans then completed a clearance of 62 to win frame and match. He went on to lose 6–13 in the next round toJimmy White.^[13]

Mans' last victory at theCrucible Theatre came in 1983 when he defeated Scottish debutantIan Black 10–3, compiling breaks of 57, 65 and 69. However, an in-formKirk Stevens defeated Mans 13–3 in the second round, a defeat which put Mans outside the top 16 in the world rankings.^[14]

Mans last played in the World Championship in 1986. He defeatedLes Dodd 10–7 in the final qualifying round^[15] but despite holding Doug Mountjoy to 3–4, he lost his first round match 3–10.^[16] Earlier in the season he had partnered Australian John Campbell to the quarter-final of the Hofmeister World Doubles, where they lost just 4–5 to Ray Reardon and Tony Jones.^[17]

Mans played in only two ranking events the following season (and the world doubles), failing to win any matches he slumped to fiftieth in the world rankings. He announced his retirement from professional snooker in July 1987 at the age of 46.^[18] After thss, he ran a business in Johannesburg, importing snooker accessories.^[19]

In 1997, Mans returned briefly to the UK snooker scene after a twelve-year hiatus, participating in the "Seniors" Pot Black special on BBC2 timed to coincide with the 1997 World Championship, which marked the 20th anniversary of the tournament being held at theCrucible Theatre. At 57, Mans lost to eventual winnerJoe Johnson. Mans returned again to play in the seniors event in the autumn of 2000, losing his first match 82 points to 13 to CanadianJim Wych.^[20]

Aleft-hander,^[21] Mans was famous for his long powerful pots, as well as his fashionable waistcoats.

Perrie Mans died on 13 September 2023, at the age of 82.^[22]

Outcome	No.	Year	Championship	Opponent in the final	Score
Runner-up	1.	1978	World Snooker Championship	Ray Reardon	18–25

Outcome	No.	Year	Championship	Opponent in the final	Score
Winner	1–13.	1965–1977	South African Professional Championship(1–13)	Various challengers	N/A
Winner	14.	1977	Pot Black	Doug Mountjoy	1–0
Winner	15.	1978	South African Professional Championship(14)	Silvino Francisco	9–5
Winner	16.	1978	Heidelberg 100 Tournament	Silvino Francisco	9–3
Runner-up	1.	1979	Australian Masters	Ian Anderson	Aggregate Score
Winner	17.	1979	The Masters	Alex Higgins	8–4
Runner-up	2.	1980	Padmore Super Crystalate International	Alex Higgins	2–4
Winner	18–22.	1980–1984	South African Professional Championship(15–19)	Various challengers	N/A
Runner-up	3.	1984	South African Professional Championship	Jimmy van Rensberg	7–10
Winner	23.	1989	South African Professional Championship(20)	Robbie Grace	8–5

Outcome	No.	Year	Championship	Opponent in the final	Score
Winner	1.	1960	South African Amateur Championship

• Perrie Mans atsnooker.org

• 1940 births
• 2023 deaths
• South African snooker players
• Sportspeople from Cape Town
• Masters (snooker) champions
• White South African people

• Articles with short description
• Short description matches Wikidata
• Use British English from September 2023
• Use dmy dates from April 2022