Snooker has always been viewed as a men's sport, with women players being considered inferior. However, the recent success of Asian female players has led to a new generation of female stars, and the future of women's snooker looks bright.
The first women's ranking event in Australia was held in 2019. Nutcharut Wiongharuthai took the title. She is believed that she was the first woman to record a 147 break. She was born in 1999 and is eligible to play on the next season of the World Snooker Tour.
Chitra Sri Krishnamurthy is another Asian woman snooker player. In 2008, she became the first Indian woman winner of the Australian Open Snooker Championship. She won the six-red championship in snooker in 2011. Her debut appearance in 2014 at the Eden World Ladies Senior Championships marked her second appearance. She also reached to the final of the Eden World Ladies Senior Championships.
Reanne Evans, the world's number-one lady snooker player, is Reanne Evans. She has won ten international titles and is the current world champion. In addition, she was invited to compete on the men’s tour during the 2010/11 season as a wildcard. For her contributions to snooker, she was also awarded an MBE.
Reanne Evans was brought up in Dudley West Midlands. At age 14, she began playing pool and has gone on to be a professional snooker player. She has won eight billiards and ball pool titles, in addition to snooker. She currently holds the title of World Pool Champion. She has also won the European Masters and is the most successful female player in the UK.
Evans, who was seven and a quarter months pregnant, won the ladies world title in 2006. She was the first woman ever to reach the main stage of a ranking competition. She qualified for the televised stages of the Wuxi Classic in China, and beat Thailand's Thepchaiya Un-Nooh 5-4 in a qualifying match.
Evans has been world number one for the past ten year. She has won ten international titles and was awarded the MBE for services to snooker. She was also invited to the professional tour as a wildcard for the 2010/11 season. She will compete in London's final stages in the world ranking event. She will be taking on world number 2 Neil Robertson in round 1.
Reanne MacIlroy, Reanne Evans, Emma Bonney and Kelly Fisher are some the most prominent female players in the world. They were all world number one players at one time and remain among the top snooker players. According to the World Professional Billiards and Snooker Association, there is no gender barrier in snooker. Two women are currently ranked in top 30 of the world rankings for men. But if the next generation of female stars can challenge the world's best players, the future of women's snooker should be bright.
Many talented ladies snooker players are out there, and the future looks bright. The sport is growing in the United States as well as other countries. Mike Dominguez of OX Billiards, Seattle, hopes that the sport will grow in the U.S.