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.
In 2019, Australia held the first women’s ranking event. Nutcharut Woongharuthai was the winner. She is believed be the first woman in Australia to score a 147 break. She was born in 1999, and is already eligible to compete on the professional World Snooker Tour next season.
Chitra Sri Krishnamurthy is another Asian woman snooker player. In 2008, she was the first Indian woman in Australia to win the Australian Open Snooker Championship. She also won the six-red snooker championship in 2011. In 2014, her first appearance in the Eden World Ladies Senior Championships took place. She has also reached the final of the Eden World Ladies Senior Championships.
Reanne Evans, the world's number-one lady snooker player, is Reanne Evans. She is the reigning world champion, having won ten world titles. She has also received a wildcard invitation to compete on the men's tour for the 2010/11 season. She was also given an MBE in recognition of her services to snooker.
Reanne Evans was raised in Dudley (West Midlands). Reanne Evans started playing pool when she was 14 years old and has been a professional player of snooker ever since. She has also won eight billiards, and ball pool titles. She holds the World Pool Championship title. She has won the European Masters, and she is the most successful woman player in the UK.
In 2006, Evans won the ladies world title, and was seven and a half months pregnant. She was the first woman ever to reach the main stage of a ranking competition. She qualified for China's Wuxi Classic, where she defeated Thailand's Thepchaiya UN-Nooh 5-4.
Evans is the current world number one. She has won ten titles around the world and was awarded an MBE in recognition of her contribution to snooker. She was also granted a wildcard invitation to participate on the professional tour in the 2010/11 season. She will be competing in the UK's final stages of the World Ranking Event. She will be playing world number two Neil Robertson in the first round.
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. If the next generation can challenge the best players worldwide, women's snooker will be a bright future.
The future is bright for many female snooker players around the globe. The sport has been growing in the United States, as well in other countries. Mike Dominguez from OX Billiards Seattle hopes to bring the sport to the United States.