The Festival of World Women’s Snooker will return to the Northern Snooker Centre on 12-15 April 2019. Enter online now View the full entry pack The four-day event will provisionally include the following events: World Women’s 10-Red Championship World Women’s 6-Red Championship World Women’s Under-21 Championship World Women’s Seniors Championship World Women’s Pairs Championship The […]
Tag: Reanne Evans
Thailand to Host 2019 World Women’s Championship
World Women’s Snooker (WWS) and the World Snooker Federation (WSF) are today delighted to announce that two prestigious women’s snooker tournaments will be contested across seven days at the Hi-End Snooker Club in Bangkok, Thailand this June.
The 38th staging of the iconic World Women’s Snooker Championship, won last year for a third time by Hong Kong’s Ng On Yee, will take place from 20-23 June 2019. This will be preceded by the inaugural edition of a new international team competition for women players from across the globe from 17-19 June.
The blue riband event will be held with the full support of the Billiard Sports Association of Thailand and the Hi-End Snooker Club, a world-class facility which boasts 15 snooker tables and is the home of women’s players including 19-year-old Nutcharut Wongharuthai who has reached two WWS finals over the past 12 months.
This year’s World Women’s Championship shall carry a minimum prize fund of £15,000 and the team event a minimum total of £7,000, making this the biggest week of women’s snooker for over a decade.
Mandy Fisher, WWS president said: “We are excited to be heading back to Asia for this year’s World Women’s Championship and are thrilled with the support that we have received from our friends at the Hi-End Snooker Club and BSAT in the organisation of this event.
“We are also looking forward to hosting a major new international team event and to seeing women players from all over the world for what should be a fantastic week of snooker.”
Mr. Borriruk (Gap), general manager at the Hi-End Snooker Club said: “We feel very honoured to have been offered the responsibility to host these prestigious tournaments in our premises. We can now prepare to welcome the world’s best athletes to a fascinating snooker place.”
Suntorn Jarumon, BSAT president said: “We are delighted that World Women’s Snooker will be holding its biggest event of the year at the Hi-End Snooker Club and are looking forward to supporting the event.
“Women’s snooker in Thailand is growing year on year and Thai women players have been making a strong impact on the international stage, as well as at professional events. This year we will stage a women’s national snooker championship for the first time and the staging of a major ranking event in Thailand will surely benefit the game further and boost the popularity of women’s snooker in our country for years to come.”
Players will be nominated for both events by their national federation. Further information, including hotel information and the entry process for national federations to both events will be released as soon as possible.
Key information
Dates
16 June – Opening ceremony / Welcome
17-19 June – Team Event
20-23 June – World Women’s Snooker Championship 2019
Venue
Hi-End Snooker Club, Bangkok, Thailand.
Festival of Women’s Snooker 2019: Enter Now
Entries are now being accepted for this season’s Festival of Women’s Snooker as the World Women’s Snooker Tour heads back to Leeds.
The event will take place across four days from 12-15 April 2019 at the Northern Snooker Centre and as was the case last year will incorporate five world championship competitions:
- Friday 12 April – World Women’s Under-21 Championship / World Women’s Seniors Championship
- Saturday 13 April – World Women’s 10-Red Championship
- Sunday 14 April – World Women’s 6-Red Championship
- Monday 15 April – World Women’s Pairs Championship
Last season saw Reanne Evans claim a title triple with individual victories in the 10-Red and 6-Red competitions, as well as in the pairs tournament together with Maria Catalano. There was also success for Nutcharut Wongharuthai and Jenny Poulter who claimed silverware in the Under-21 and Seniors events respectively.
The closing date for entries and payment of entry fees is 4:30pm BST on Friday 5 April 2019.
World Women’s Rankings – Belgian Women’s Open 2019 Update
The official world women’s rankings have been updated for the first time in 2019 as Reanne Evans claimed her third title of the season at the Belgian Women’s Open last weekend.
The WWS world rankings operate on a rolling two-year basis, with points earned during 2016/17 to be removed during the course of this season. At this revision, points earned at the 2017 Connie Gough Trophy were removed from the ranking list and replaced by those earned at this year’s event held at The Trickshot in Bruges.
On Yee completes year at the top
Hong Kong’s Ng On Yee has completed 12 months at the head of the world women’s ranking list following her run to the final last weekend in Bruges. In fact, despite losing out to closest rival Reanne Evans in the title match, On Yee has actually extended her lead because she was defending no points at this cut-off, while Evans had 3,200 coming off having reached the semi-finals of the Connie Gough Trophy in 2017.
It is not all bad news for 11-time world champion Evans however as her defeat of the top seed has strengthened her position in top spot on this season’s one-year ranking list with 6,000 more points to her name than On Yee.
With On Yee set to lose 20,000 from her total over the next six months following her flawless end to the 2016/17 season, there is a very real prospect that top spot will change hands before the end of the season with Evans due to defend only the 6,400 points earned by her semi-final run at the 2017 World Championship.
The top 10
Despite the removal of points earned two years ago in Dunstable and the addition of those earned in Belgium, there are no changes of position inside the top 10 this week.
Third ranked Rebecca Kenna finds herself on her own some distance behind the top two, but comfortably clear of Maria Catalano who was defending the maximum 5,000 points having triumphed two years ago at the Connie Gough Trophy and did not compete in Belgium
There is in fact a close battle for fourth place with just 2,525 separating Catalano, Katrina Wan and Laura Evans, with all three players defending a similar amount of points between now and the end of the season.
Further back, Suzie Opacic is under increasing pressure from Thailand’s Nutcharut Wongharuthai, who having reached the semi-finals or better for the fourth time in five events so far this season, looks destined to continue her surge up the ranking list over the coming months.
Jans on the rise
Among the biggest movers further down the rankings is Belgium’s Wendy Jans as the 12-time EBSA champion rises nine places to 23rd position following her second semi-final run of the season. A stronger player than her ranking would suggest, she will only continue to climb the ranking list with further tour appearances over the coming months.
Also on the rise is Jackie Ellis who climbs two places to a new career-high of 21st position, as well as Dorothee Rapp and Connie Stephens who are up to career-best positions of 31st and 32nd respectively.
Germany’s Tanja Ender also rises one position to 40th despite not competing in Bruges.
There are six new names on the ranking list this week including Jane O’Neill, who made her first appearance on the circuit since 2003, reaching the last 16. Both Vicky Shirley and Danielle Findlay fall off the list having not competed in over two years now.
Under-21
There is a change at the top of the Under-21 ranking list as with Shannon Metcalf absent from the tournament, a semi-final run from Emma Parker was enough to see the Hornchurch youngster reclaim the number one junior ranking for the second time this season.
Steph Daughtery, who captured the title in Bruges with a brilliant win against Nutcharut Wongharuthai consolidates third position, with her Thai opponent rising into the top four for the first time ahead of Aimee Benn.
Zoe Killington moves up to eighth position after winning her first match at under-21 level against newcomer Anne Kuijpers.
The World Women’s Snooker Tour will return with the Festival of Women’s Snooker from 12-15 April 2019.
Belgian Double for Evans
England’s Reanne Evans defeated world number one Ng On Yee 4-1 to win the Belgian Women’s Open for the first time last weekend.
- View all results from the weekend at MySnookerStats
- View the updated world rankings
- View the updated world under-21 rankings
The new event was held for the first time at The Trickshot club in Bruges and was the first event of the new year on the World Women’s Snooker Tour.
Having already enjoyed success in Belgium earlier this season at the European Women’s Masters staged in Neerpelt, Evans was one of the favourites from a strong field which included eight of the world’s top 10 ranked players at the outset.
The 11-time world champion made comfortable progress to the semi-finals with victories against local debutant Vanessa Vermeulen and then world number 7 Suzie Opacic without the loss of a frame.
Awaiting her in the last four was 12-time EBSA champion Wendy Jans, the Belgian star having successfully navigated the group stages with a 100% record and a top break of 60. Meeting for the first time in a WWS competition since the same stage of the 2014 World Women’s Championship, it was Evans who made a fast start with a tournament-high break of 86 to take the opening frame, before Jans won three in a row to move to within a frame of reaching the final on home soil.
Back however came Dudley’s Evans, who capitalised on a missed chance by Jans in frame five and would ultimately win the final three frames, the last with breaks of 49 and 46, to progress to the title match a 4-3 winner.
There she would face top seed Ng On Yee, the Hong Kong player having also made comfortable early progress through the knockout draw before surviving a deciding-frame encounter with rising Thai talent Nutcharut Wongharuthai.
In what was perhaps surprisingly the first encounter of the season between the world’s two highest ranked players, it was On Yee who took the opening frame as she looked to add the title to previous victories at the UK Women’s Championship and Australian Women’s Open earlier this season.
Evans however had other ideas and having levelled the encounter following a close second frame, would ultimately win four in a row with top breaks of 55 and 45 to seal a 4-1 victory.
“I didn’t play great [in the final] but I felt like I had done just enough to win,” said 33-year-old Evans. “I am feeling more comfortable on the table at the moment which is a good sign for upcoming tournaments. It looked like I was going to lose 4-1 to Wendy in the semi-finals but I took my chance to make it 3-2 and after that I think I played quite well to come back, so I was confident going into the final.
“I seem to like playing in Belgium [having already won in Neerpelt earlier this season]. I have been to Bruges before and was looking forward to going back to what is a beautiful place. The people at the club looking after us were great and made us feel welcome. Hopefully we get to go back there in the future.”
The win sees Evans complete a hat-trick of victories this season, adding to her European Women’s Masters and Eden Masters titles in 2018. The win also boosts Evans’ chances of reclaiming the world number one ranking over the coming months, with On Yee set to defend a significant amount of world ranking points this spring.
The event was the fifth ranking event of the 2018/19 season and welcomed a mix of newcomers from the local area, together with returning faces such as Caty Dehaene and Jane O’Neill, the latter competing in her first WWS tournament for 16 years.
WWS would like to express its gratitude to everyone at the Trickshot, in particular owner Olivier Vandenbohede and his team who welcomed the event with open arms and we hope to be able to return in 2020.
Side-events
It was a weekend to remember for Wakefield’s Steph Daughtery after the 17-year-old claimed victory in both the Challenge Cup and Under-21 side-events in Bruges.
Having reached the last 16 of the main event, losing out to Suzie Opacic 3-1 following a close match, she proved to be the scourge of the Belgian players in the Challenge Cup draw as she defeated Milenka Vansteenkiste, Melissa Eens and finally Caty Dehaene without the loss of a frame to secure victory. The win was her second successive Challenge Cup title of the season after she also won the equivalent event at last November’s Women’s Masters.
Perhaps Daughtery’s most impressive performance however was to come in the Under-21s competition as after defeating fellow English junior Zoe Killington in the last four, she then stunned world number 8 Nutcharut Wongharuthai in the final with a 2-0 victory to seal a title double.
The Seniors competition meanwhile saw Belgium’s Caty Dehaene claim her first WWS title following a 2-0 victory against Jane O’Neill of Spain. The veteran player, who last summer finished as runner-up to Wendy Jans at the European Women’s Championship in Bucharest, impressed with a high break of 46 during the weekend and is up into the world’s top 50 following this weekend.
The World Women’s Snooker Tour will return with the Festival of Women’s Snooker from 12-15 April 2019. The event will see five individual World Championship titles contested across the four days, including Under-21, Seniors, 6-Red, 10-Red and Women’s doubles competitions.
Women to Compete at Snooker Shoot Out
It has today been announced that both Reanne Evans and Emma Parker will compete at the Shoot Out which will be staged at the Watford Colosseum from 21-24 February.
The pair, who both compete regularly on the World Women’s Snooker Tour, have been selected for the professional event among eight wildcard players for the first time and will join 126 other players looking to win the £32,000 top prize.
Dudley’s Evans will face 10-time ranking event winner Jimmy White in a mouth-watering tie during the evening session on Friday 22 February, while former world under-21 champion Parker will play India’s Laxman Rawat a day earlier.
The event will be televised live on Eurosport.
Prior to the event, both players will also be in action at the Belgian Open’s Open in Bruges from 1-3 February. Entries for that event are still being accepted HERE.
Rebecca on the Rise
Since 2005 there have been just two winners of the World Women’s Snooker Championship as leading stars Reanne Evans of England and Hong Kong’s Ng On Yee have firmly established themselves as the dominant forces in the sport.
There are now however signs that perhaps this long-standing duopoly on the World Women’s Snooker Tour could come to an end following the emergence of Keighley’s Rebecca Kenna, who has made rapid progress in the sport since her first event at the Eden Classic in March 2016. That year she reached the semi-finals of the World Women’s Snooker Championship at only her second event, a feat that she has since matched in both 2017 and 2018.
Kenna can also count three ranking finals among her achievements in the sport so far, including at this September’s LITEtask UK Women’s Snooker Championship where she notably shocked eight-time UK queen Reanne Evans with a 3-2 win at the last 16 stage, her second ranking event victory against the player widely regarded as the best-ever woman to have picked up a cue.
Although she was able to follow-up her win with a dramatic black-ball 4-3 victory against highly-rated Thai youngster Nutcharut Wongharuthai, coming back from 3-1 down at one stage, Kenna eventually fell to world number one Ng On Yee in the title match. Nevertheless, it was a strong start to the season and enough to see her rise to a career-high equalling position of number three in the world rankings:
“I was very happy to reach the final of this season’s first ranking event,” said the 29-year-old. “My targets going into the season included to reach more finals [Kenna reached her first final at the 2017 Connie Gough Trophy] and hopefully to win one, so I was pleased to achieve that at the first event of season.”
Practice makes perfect
Since she first joined the tour back in 2016 the improvement in Kenna’s game has been significant, something that she credits to her increased time on the practice table, particularly since the opening of her own shop Cue Sports Yorkshire together with her husband Ash Kenna in September 2017:
“After competing in my first event I was keen to improve my game,” explained Kenna. “Before then I had never tried any practice routines or drills, so I had some coaching and followed drills from books and online and started to see improvements in my game.
“To compete with the top players you need to be on the table for a lot of hours, so I decided that I needed my own table. This came together with the idea for a cue sports shop and so last year we opened with a full-size installed which enables me to get as much practice as possible in between my work as a personal trainer.
“Practice is a pleasure for me, not a chore and I believe that since having my own table my game has improved tremendously. I am very competitive and love competing in tournaments so will thoroughly enjoy trying to better my ranking over the coming seasons!”
Global growth
The women’s circuit is currently enjoying a period of significant growth with the backing of snooker’s world governing body the World Professional Billiards and Snooker Association and the introduction of new international ranking events in countries such as Malta, Belgium and Australia in 2018. With new opportunities both on the women’s tour itself and to compete at prestigious mixed gender events through the World Snooker Federation (WSF), Kenna is excited by the potential of the sport and to be able to follow in the footsteps of her professional heroes.
It was recently announced that this season’s World Women’s Snooker Championship will be held at the spectacular Dubai World Trade Centre in the U.A.E. for the first time, as part of the second WSF Championships following this year’s inaugural edition in Malta won by On Yee.
“I think that I have come into the women’s game at the right time,” continued Kenna. “I can see it growing at every event and also now with having more events abroad it’s a great opportunity to see the world and travel to places I wouldn’t have ever visited whilst playing a sport I love.
“I’m really excited to be heading to Dubai for next year’s World Championship. After being in Singapore and Malta during the last couple of years it will be another different experience and I’ve heard great things about Dubai so am looking forward to it.”
Kenna says that snooker helps her to de-stress and relax, but as well as playing the sport to a high-standard, she is also actively involved in snooker as a coach and recently gained her 1st4sport Level 2 Certificate in Snooker Coaching in Leeds, enjoying the ‘bonus’ of being able to complete the course with three-time professional ranking event winner Marco Fu earlier in the year.
As committed and determined to succeed in her snooker journey as anyone, she will be hoping that her maiden title on the World Women’s Snooker Tour is just around the corner and that she can be the one to break from the pack and truly challenge the feared top two on a regular basis.
Get involved!
Why not join Rebecca on the World Women’s Snooker Tour? With tournaments regularly held for women and girls of all ages, regardless of experience, you will be made to feel welcome by our experienced events team.
Learn how you can get involved and to enter your first event HERE. Whether you aspire to compete at an elite level or wish to play snooker and have a great time meeting new people, we would encourage all women to participate and to give snooker a try!
This article was originally published in the tournament programme for the English Open.
Belgian Women’s Open 2019: Enter Now
Entries are now being accepted for the Belgian Women’s Open as the World Women’s Snooker Tour heads back to Belgium next February.
The three-day event will take place from 1-3 February 2019 and will be played at The Trickshot club, situated in the centre of the historic city of Bruges.
Following victory for Reanne Evans at the European Women’s Masters back in October, the event marks our second trip to Belgium during the 2018/19 World Women’s Snooker Tour, which once again will see a full-ranking event staged, as well as side-events staged for under-21 and senior players.
The closing date for entries and payment of entry fees is 4:30pm GMT on Friday 25 January 2019.
Hotel / Shuttle information
There is an agreed rate in place with the Velotel Hotel Bruges (although players are free to stay at any hotel) and we are hoping to provide a shuttle service between this hotel and the venue during the event.
There will also be a shuttle service provided to/from three local airports courtesy of club owner Olivier Vandenbohede and his team.
For full hotel/shuttle information download the full event entry pack here.
World Women’s Rankings – Eden Women’s Masters 2018 Update
The official world women’s rankings have been updated for the final time in 2018 as the season reached its midway point following victory for Reanne Evans at the Eden Women’s Masters last weekend.
The WLBS world rankings operate on a rolling two-year basis, with points earned during 2016/17 to be removed during the course of this season. At this revision, points earned at the 2017 Eden Women’s Masters (Derby) were removed from the ranking list and replaced by those earned at this year’s event held at the South West Snooker Academy in Gloucester.
Evans closes the gap
Reanne Evans has closed the gap to Hong Kong’s Ng On Yee to 7,050 points following her record fifth triumph at the Eden Women’s Masters last weekend.
Having entered the event 10,800 points behind her Asian rival, Evans duly maximised her opportunity to home in on the current world number one with On Yee not competing at the tournament.
Interestingly, although she claimed the maximum 7,500 points on offer by taking the title in Gloucester, the gap between the top two has only narrowed by 3,750 points as we head towards the Christmas break. This is because Evans was defending maximum points at the corresponding event in January 2017, while On Yee only reached the quarter-finals of that event in Derby, meaning that she had fewer points to defend at this update.
With 10,400 more points to defend than Evans between now and the end of the season however, On Yee must have a strong finish to the season if she is to retain her number one ranking next summer.
The top 10
Elsewhere there was a new entry to the top 10 as Emma Parker climbs four places to 10th following her maiden semi-final appearance in Gloucester. The 19-year-old replaces Aimee Benn, who herself had a positive weekend reaching only her second quarter-final, but was defending last 16 points from two seasons ago.
With no points to be removed from her total however, having not competed in the corresponding event in January 2017, Parker gains 3,750 points as she continues her rise up the ranking list from 22nd position 12 months ago. In fact only six players have earned more points than her so far this season meaning that if she can maintain her current form then she has a real chance to rise further still.
Otherwise the top 10 remains stable, players including Rebecca Kenna (3), Laura Evans (6) and Suzie Opacic (7) consolidating their positions having all reached the quarter-final stage or better at the Eden Women’s Masters.
Rise and fall
Outside of the top ten, there are career-high positions for Hong Kong trio Ho Yee Ki (12), Fong Mei Mei (17) and Pui Ying Mini Chu (18), who despite not competing in Gloucester have gained positions because they were not defending points from 2017.
Also setting a new high watermark in their respective careers are players including Chloe White (22), who reached her first quarter-final at the weekend and Jackie Ellis (23), after she reached the knockout rounds for the first time.
A little further down the list both Yvette Greenway (39) and Connie Stephens (40) have broken into the top 40 for the first time having also made it through to the last 16, while there are three new entries on the list as the circuit continues to expand.
With players on the rise it is inevitable that others have dropped down the list, most notably So Man Yan (24) who is down seven places following the expiration of her points from reaching the final of the event two years ago.
Others to have slipped down are Jenny Poulter (down four) and notably Vicky Shirley, a quarter-finalist in Derby who has played only one event since which sees her drop to 90th position on the latest list.
Under-21
For the second time in three events there is a change at the head of the under-21 rankings after Shannon Metcalf captured her first Under-21 title to reclaim top spot at the expense of Emma Parker.
Stephanie Daughtery consolidated third position after an impressive win against Parker at the semi-finals stage of Gloucester’s junior event, although she would ultimately finish as tournament runner-up to Metcalf.
The World Women’s Snooker Tour will return in 2019.
Five-Star Evans Wins Eden Masters Title
Reanne Evans defeated Rebecca Kenna 4-0 to win the Eden Women’s Masters for a fifth time in Gloucester last weekend.
- View all results from the weekend at MySnookerStats
- View the updated world rankings
- View the updated world under-21 rankings
- Watch selected matches from the tournament via YouTube
First staged in 2013, the Eden Women’s Masters returned to the South West Snooker Academy as the 2018/19 World Women’s Snooker Tour season reached its halfway point.
Installed as top seed for the tournament, 11-time world champion Reanne Evans was looking to maintain her 100% record of final appearances at the Masters event and duly did so with victories against Louise Cothier, Chloe White and Emma Parker.
Joining the 33-year-old in the title match was third ranked Rebecca Kenna, who recorded comfortable wins against Jackie Ellis and Stephanie Daughtery, before defeating Suzie Opacic 4-1 in a deceptively tight semi-final to reach her second ranking final of the season.
Kenna has two previous victories against Evans to her name including a 3-2 success earlier this season at the UK Women’s Championship, but it was Evans who ran out a 4-0 winner at their most recent meeting at the last four stage of the European Women’s Masters last month
Having taken a 40-minute opening frame in Sunday’s final, Evans then survived a scare in the second after Kenna had gained a snooker on the blue to double her lead. Although Kenna continued to battle to the end it was not to be her day as Evans added the following two frames to complete her fourth whitewash of the weekend and secure the title with a perfect 100% record, replicating her achievement at the same tournament back in January 2017.
The triumph was Evans’ second title of the season following her success at the European Women’s Masters last month. The world number two also claimed the high break prize with her final day run of 62 and closes the gap to top ranked Ng On Yee at the top of the world rankings heading into the second half of the season.
As well as the finalists, the tournament was also significant for a number of promising junior players on the tour with four Under-21 players progressing to the quarter-finals of the main event and 19-year-old Emma Parker building on her recent progress by reaching the semi-finals of a World Women’s Snooker Tour event for the first time in her career.
Side-events
The Challenge Cup event for players who had not reached the quarter-finals of the main competition was won by Stephanie Daughtery, who defeated Sharon Kaur, Connie Stephens and Germany’s Diana Schuler 2-0 in the final to claim the title.
It was a busy Sunday for Daughtery who also reached the final of the Under-21 event following a notable 2-1 win against Emma Parker in the semi-finals. There would not be a title double however as she was defeated by Shannon Metcalf in the final, a result that takes the Leeds youngster back to the top of the Under-21 ranking list ahead of Parker.
Finally there was a maiden Seniors event victory for Tanja Ender of Germany who defeated Bugsie Cothier, Sharon Kaur and Maureen Rowland to take home the top prize.
The World Women’s Snooker Tour will return in 2019. View the latest calendar of events HERE.
