# S.L. Benfica (billiards)

Active departments of S.L. Benfica :
| Football | Football B | Football U19 |
| Football (women's) | Futsal | Roller hockey |
| Basketball | Handball | Volleyball |
| Athletics | Swimming | Rugby union |
| Table tennis | Billiards | Canoeing |
Closed departments :
| Archery | Beach soccer | Cycling |
Sport Lisboa e Benfica (Portuguese pronunciation: ), commonly known as Benfica, is a semi-professional billiards team based in Lisbon, Portugal. Founded in 1938, Benfica compete in the Portuguese Billiards League, in carom billiards (three-cushion), pool (eight-ball and nine-ball), and snooker events. The team is almost exclusively composed of Portuguese players. They play at the Estádio da Luz in a 202 square meters room with 4 professional pool tables and a 50 people stand.

## History

The billiard section was created in 1938–39 with players like Alvaro Figueiredo de Lima, Maximiano Varges Henrique da Costa Santos and Aguinaldo Cacho. The section continued to grow and in the sixties it won its first regional title in 66/67 and by 69 its first national championship. Also in 69 it participated for the first time into the CEB European Three-cushion Championship.
Between 1983 and 2000, Benfica won most of its titles, 10 Regional Championships, 6 National Championships, 2 Portuguese Cups and 3 Supercups.
In 2002/03, Benfica hired Dick Jaspers, Dion Nelin, Henrique Penalva, Jaime Faraco in an attempt to win the CEB European Three-cushion Championship but it only managed a second place.
In 2011/12, Benfica won a combined number of 13 titles, 9 for teams.

## Men's honours

According to Benfica's official website

### Three Cushin

* Portuguese Three-cushion Men's Billiards Championship
    Winners (9): 1968–69, 1970–71, 1976–77, 1984–85, 1985–86, 1986–87, 1988–89, 1991–92, 1994–95
* Portuguese Three-cushion Men's Billiards Cup
    Winners (2): 1992–93, 1999–2000
* Portuguese Three-cushion Men's Billiards Super Cup
    Winners (3): 1992–93, 1994–95, 1997–98
* Lisbon Regional Three-cushion Men's Billiards Championship
    Winners (15): 1966–67, 1970–71, 1973–74, 1974–75, 1975–76, 1982–83, 1983–84, 1985–86, 1986–87, 1987–88, 1988–89, 1991–92, 1992–93, 1993–94, 1994–95
* CEB European Three-cushion Championship:
    Runners-up: 2002–03

### Pool

* Portuguese Pool Men's Billiards Cup
    Winners (1): 2010–11, 2011–12
* Portuguese Pool Men's Billiards Super Cup
    Winners (3): 2011–12

### American Pool

* Portuguese American Pool Men's Billiards Championship
    Winners (1): 2011–12
* Portuguese American Pool Men's Billiards Cup
    Winners (1): 2010–11, 11–12
* Portuguese American Pool Men's Billiards Super Cup
    Winners (1): 2011–12

### Snooker

* Portuguese Snooker Men's Billiards Championship
    Winners (2): 2011–12, 2013–14
* Portuguese Snooker Men's Billiards Championship
* Winners (2): 2013, 2014

## Women's honours
### Pool

* Portuguese Pool Women's Billiards Championship
    Winners (1): 2011–12
* Portuguese Pool Women's Billiards Cup
    Winners (1): 2010–11, 2011–12

## Current squad

| Name | Sport practised |
| António Rodrigues | Three-cushion |
| António Figueiredo | Three-cushion |
| Carlos Marques | Three-cushion |
| Carlos Venda | Three-cushion |
| Fernando Maia | Three-cushion |
| Fernando Tomás | Three-cushion |
| Guerra Santos | Three-cushion |
| Henrique Louro | Three-cushion |
| Joaquim Torres | Three-cushion |
| João Silva | Three-cushion-Snooker |
| José Antunes | Three-cushion |
| Jorge Ribeiro | Three-cushion |
| Mário Chaves | Three-cushion |
| Rui Vasconcelos | Three-cushion |
| Vasco Gomes | Three-cushion |
| Name | Sport practised |
| Henrique Correia | Pool-American Pool-Snooker |
| João Grilo | Pool-American Pool-Snooker |
| Jorge Tinoco | Pool-American Pool |
| Nuno Santos | Pool-American Pool-Snooker |
| Pedro France | Pool-American Pool |
| Rui Edgar | Pool-American Pool |
| Ana Oliveira | Pool |
| Ana Pires | Pool |
| Anna Gradisnik | Pool |
| Helena Moreira | Pool |
| Lídia Moreira | Pool |
| Marta Tavares | Pool |
| Sara Rocha | Pool |
| Name | Sport practised |
| Filipe Correia | Pool |
| Ivan Coelho | Pool |
| João Costa | Pool |
| Klemen Gradisnik | Pool |
| Mauro Marianito | Pool |
| Sérgio Almeida | Pool |

## Notable past athletes

* Alvaro Figueiredo de Lima
* Maximiano Varges Henrique da Costa Santos
* Aguinaldo Cacho
* Manuel Rodriguez
* José Tavares
* Alvaro Lima
* Artur Ribeiro
* Eduardo Martins
* José Alabern
* Alvaro Araujo de Oliveira
* Alfredo Ferraz
* Jorge Pinto
* Dr. Joaquim Lourenço Gago
* João Pereira
* Manuel Barroso Sanchez
* Victor Hugo Leal
* Vladimiro Correia Monteiro
* Carlos Alberto França
* Ilídio Gomes
* Mário Machado
* Vladimiro Monteiro
* Mário Ribeiro
* Victor Hugo Leal

## Technical staff

| Name | Job |
| Sr. Porfírio José da Silva | Financial Manager |
| Sr. João Maria Marinho de Abreu | Infrastructures Area |
| Eng.º Eduardo Lucas Paixão | Informatics, Communication and Marketing Area |
| Sr. Ricardo Jorge Veloso Simões | Pool Area |