Women's world championships

[snookerdad]

GREEN-baize queens from around the globe descend on Bury St Edmunds this week for the Greene King World Ladies Snooker Championship.

It’s the first time the Suffolk market town has hosted the World Ladies Billiards & Snooker Association’s season finale.

Main Tour professionals Joe Perry, Michael Holt and Martin Gould make guest appearances on Friday (April 8) in the World Mixed Pairs, which kicks off six days of top-quality action at the Pot Black Sports Bar.

The round-robin stage of the main competition starts at 10am on Saturday (April 9) with the final scheduled for noon on Wednesday (April 13).

The eventual champion will pocket £1,000 and the runner-up £500. Prize money will also be paid down to the last-16.

Red-hot favourite Reanne Evans is bidding for a record seventh straight world title. And to extend her record 84-match unbeaten run on the WLBSA circuit

Attempting to de-throne the undisputed world number one are world number two Maria Catalano, Ronnie O’Sullivan’s 29-year-old cousin; Portsmouth’s Emma Bonney, who is also seeking a fourth successive billiards title; and Kent’s Katie Henrick, who is ranked fourth.

But will a star from the East out-shine Evans?

Leading the overseas threat is Hong Kong’s impressive 20-year-old Ng On Yee, the 2009 and 2010 IBSF Women’s World Champion.

Also flying in from Hong Kong are Jaique Ip Wan In, who lost to Ng in the 2010 IBSF final, Yu Ching Ching and So Man Yan.

Two-time world billiards champion Chitra Magimairaj, who jets in from India, said her biggest motivation was seeing her home country winning cricket’s world cup. Magimairaj is joined in Bury St Edmunds by her compatriot Revanna Umadevi.

Spearheading the European challenge is Latvian number one Tatjana Vasiljeva and eight-time German national champion Natascha Niermann, now based in Cambridge.

From the world of pool comes England international Fran Calvert and two-time European champion Kim O’Brien.

Favourite to clinch a fourth straight junior title is the phenomenal 14-year-old Derby schoolgirl Hannah Jones, the world number six.

Ron Agnew is sponsoring the billiards to the tune of £600. The eventual champion will also receive a year’s free subscription to all English-Billiards Open Series (EBOS) tournaments, a package worth £200. Website englishBilliards.org is offering £100 for the highest break.

Greene King World Ladies Snooker Championship
Friday, April 8, to Wednesday, April 13
Pot Black Sports Bar (manager: Phil Mumford)
Bury St Edmunds
Eastgate Street
Bury St Edmunds
Suffolk
IP33 1YQ
Tel: 01284 704231

Tim Dunkley (WLBSA press officer)

[Mignon]

World mixed doubles

Prelim
Fran Calvert and Aidan Owens 3-0 Revanna Umadevi and Bidare Gangadhal Nagaraja
Mandy Fisher and Phil Mumford 3-2 Natascha Niermann and Steve Edwards

QFs
Tatjana Vasiljeva and Joe Perry 3-0 Fran Calvert and Aidan Owens
Hannah Jones and Vinnie Calabrese 3-0 Nick Charalambous and Eva Palmius
Pam Wood and Martin Gould 3-0 Kim O’Brien and Andy Goodridge
Phil Mumford and Mandy Fisher 3-1 Reanne Evans and Michael Holt

Semis
Tatjana Vasiljeva and Joe Perry 3-1 Hannah Jones and Vinnie Calabrese
Pam Wood and Martin Gould 3-0 Phil Mumford and Mandy Fisher

Final
Tatjana Vasiljeva and Joe Perry 3-1 Pam Wood and Martin Gould


Looking forward for Tim's report!

[snookerdad]

Not a man to let a lady down, is Joe. He vowed last year in Cambridge to return and defend the title.

Tim

[Mignon]

Joe's nickname no accident!

[snookerdad]

Juniors report and last-16 draw of the main competition

DERBY schoolgirl Hannah Jones has picked up her fourth successive World Ladies Junior snooker championship.

The 14-year-old hot favourite for the title admitted she was “really nervous” during the 3-0 victory over Naomi Clare, from Ripley, Derbyshire, at the Pot Black Sports Bar in Bury St Edmunds, Suffolk.

A 26 clearance to the black gave Jones a 2-0 lead and a tidy 24 did the damage in the third frame.

“I was really, really nervous,” she said. “There were a lot of people watching. Everyone was expecting me to win.

“Hopefully, it’ll be a lot easier to get sponsorship now. The more titles I win, the more people will get interested. It’s very tough doing it on your own, money-wise.”

And she said her long-term aim is to become a professional on World Snooker’s Main Tour

“If I train hard and work hard then I reckon I’ll have a chance,” she said.

An hour before the first final of this year’s women’s world championships, Jones chalked up her highest break of 80 in a practice match.

But both girls struggled on the tighter table.

Jones explained: “It was a very tough table. It was tighter and faster than the other tables that I’ve been practising on.”

Tomorrow (Monday) the England international faces Ng On Yee, the two-time IBSF Women’s World Champion, in the last-16 of the main competition.

“It’s going to be a tough match,” she said. “I’ve just got to do my best and enjoy it.”

RESULTS (BREAKS)

FINAL: Hannah Jones (26, 24) beat Naomi Clare 3-0.

The group stages have now finished for the Green King Wolrld Ladies Snooker Championships.

Tomorrow's (Monday) best-of-five last-16 matches kick off at 11.30am:

Reanne Evans v Marianne Williams, Hannah Jones v Ng On Yee, Eva Palmius v Jaique Ip Wan In, Katie Henrick v Tatjana Vasiljeva, Emma Bonney v Revanna Umadevi, Jenny Poulter v Yu Ching Ching, Chris Sharpe v So Man Yan, Maria Catalano v Natascha Niermann.

Best-of-seven quarter-finals will be played at 3.30pm tomorrow (Monday) afternoon.

Tim

[poolqjunkie]

Congrats to Hannah for winning her Junior title.
Thanks for the report.
Best wishes to all the ladies.:-)

[snookerdad]

WORLD number ten Tina Owen-Sevilton, from Taunton, Somerset, proved too strong for local girl Kim O’Brien in the Plate final.

O’Brien’s bid for home-town glory ended in a 3-0 defeat. But she did collect two big-name scalps en route to the final.

Competing in her first world championships, O’Brien, who narrowly missed out on a last-16 spot in the main event, inflicted 3-0 defeats on world number eight Vicky Carter (Hemel Hempstead) and world number 21 Jan Hughes (St Neots, Cambs).

RESULTS

PRELIM: Tina Owen-Sevilton w/o Pam Wood.

QUARTER-FINALS: Owen-Sevilton beat June Banks 3-0, Gaye Jones beat Maureen Rowland 3-0, Jan Hughes w/o Chitra Magimairaj, Kim O’Brien beat Vicky Carter 3-0.

SEMI-FINALS: Owen-Sevilton beat Jones 3-0, O’Brien beat Hughes 3-0.

FINAL: Owen-Sevilton beat O’Brien 3-0.


GREENE KING WORLD LADIES SNOOKER CHAMPIONSHIP

NUMBER four seed Katie Henrick is the first major casualty of the Greene King World Ladies Snooker Championship at the Pot Black Sports Bar in Bury St Edmunds.

The Kent-based 29-year-old crashed out in the last-16 today, beaten 3-1 by Latvian number one Tatjana Vasiljeva.

But it’s business as usual for the top two seeds, who have already met in four of this season’s six finals on the World Ladies Billiards & Snooker Association circuit.

Reanne Evans, bidding for a seventh successive world title, is safely through to the semi-finals.

Although the 25-year-old did drop the first frame of her quarter-final match against the two-time IBSF women’s world champion Ng On Yee, from Hong Kong.

Evans recovered to win 4-1 and meets Portsmouth’s Emma Bonney in Tuesday’s semi-final.

Ronnie O’Sullivan’s cousin Maria Catalano set up a last-four clash with Vasiljeva by seeing off Germany’s Natascha Niermann, now based in Cambridge, 3-0 and Hong Kong’s So Man Yan 4-0.

Vasiljeva edged out Hong Kong’s Jaique Ip Wan In 4-3 from 2-0 down in an epic quarter-final contest lasting more than five hours.

KNOCKOUT RESULTS

LAST-16: Reanne Evans (49) beat Marianne Williams 3-0, Ng On Yee (50) beat Hannah Jones 3-0, Jaique Ip Wan In beat Eva Palmius 3-1, Tatjana Vasiljeva beat Katie Henrick 3-1, Emma Bonney (67, 35) beat Revanna Umadevi 3-1, Yu Ching Ching beat Jenny Poulter 3-1, So Man Yan beat Chris Sharpe 3-1, Maria Catalano (43, 44, 57) beat Natascha Niermann 3-0.

QUARTER-FINALS: Evans (32, 36) beat Ng 4-1, Bonney beat Yu 4-1, Vasiljeva beat Ip Wan In 4-3, Catalano (47) beat So 4-0.

SEMI-FINALS (Tuesday, 11am, best-of-seven): Evans v Bonney, Catalano v Vasiljeva.

SENIORS RESULTS, SO FAR

PRELIMS: June Banks beat Eva Palmius 3-0, Jenny Poulter beat Maureen Rowland 3-1, Gaye Jones beat Kim O’Brien 3-2.

QUARTER-FINALS: Banks beat Jones 3-0, Revanna Umadevi beat Poulter 3-1, Jan Hughes beat Pam Wood 3-1, Marianne Williams beat Chris Sharpe 3-0.

SEMI-FINALS: Williams v Hughes, Banks v Umadevi.

Tim

[snookerdad]

REANNE Evans sailed into the Greene King World Ladies Snooker Championship final at the Pot Black Sports Bar in Bury St Edmunds.

Bidding for a seventh successive world title, the 25-year-old from Dudley, West Midlands, cruised past Latvian number one Tatjana Vasiljeva 4-0 in today’s semi-final.

Evans will meet billiards world champion Emma Bonney in a repeat of the 2006 final, in which Evans prevailed 5-3.

Bonney, in her semi-final, inflicted a crushing defeat on Maria Catalano. A 58 break at 3-1 down sparked a dramatic three-frame fight back. And she replaces Catalano as world number two.

SEMI-FINALS: Reanne Evans (31, 45, 34, 64) beat Tatjana Vasiljeva 4-0, Emma Bonney (58) beat Maria Catalano 4-3.

FINAL (Wednesday, noon, best-of-nine): Evans v Bonney.

SENIORS

CAMBRIDGESHIRE’S Jan Hughes is one match away from a first world title.

The world number 21 from St Neots faces defending champion June Banks in tomorrow’s Seniors final.

Hughes edged past former England international Marianne Williams 3-2 in today’s semi-finals.

Kent-based Banks saw off Indian star Revanna Umadevi 3-0 in the second semi.

RESULTS

SEMI-FINALS: Jan Hughes beat Marianne Williams 3-2, June Banks beat Revanna Umadevi 3-0.

FINAL (Wednesday, 11am): Hughes v Banks.

BILLIARDS

PORTSMOUTH’S Emma Bonney has collected her fourth straight billiards world title, and a sixth in total.

The 34-year-old defeated Somerset’s Tina Owen-Sevilton 202-181 in the one-hour final.

Bonney said: “I haven’t really been practising billiards, so it was a bit of a struggle. To win a world title four year in a row is nice. I’m going to try and practise a bit more for next year.”

Owen-Sevilton closed the gap in the last few minutes after trailing for most of the game. However, Bonney was at the table when the buzzer went.

ROUND ROBIN RESULTS (45-MINUTE MATCHES)

FIRST ROUND
GROUP A: Revanna Umadevi 106-80 Eva Palmius, Maureen Rowland 29-49 Jan Hughes, Palmius 162-25 Rowland, Umadevi 132-63 Hughes, Palmius 83-25 Hughes, Umadevi 148-38 Rowland.

Umadevi and Palmius qualified.

GROUP B: Tina Owen-Sevilton 165-82 Gaye Jones, Hannah Jones 99-73 G Jones, Owen-Sevilton 179-119 H Jones.

Owen-Sevilton and H Jones qualified.

SECOND ROUND
GROUP A: Chitra Magimairaj 119-142 Tina Owen Sevilton, Owen-Sevilton 155-125 Revanna Umadevi, Umadevi 215-100 Magimairaj..

GROUP B: Emma Bonney 192-77 Eva Palmius, Palmius 127-47 Hannah Jones, Jones 93-206 Emma Bonney.

FINAL (one hour): Bonney 202-181 Owen-Sevilton.

BILLIARDS PLATE COMPETITION

FINAL: Gaye Jones 70-46 Jan Hughes.

Tim

[snookerdad]

Reanne Evans does indeed pick up her seventh successive world title. She beat Emma Bonney 5-1 to today's final.

Tim

[snookerdad]

Evans in seventh heaven

REANNE Evans has taken another step towards immortality on the women’s snooker circuit by claiming a record seventh successive world title.

The undisputed world number one from Dudley, West Midlands, insisted she wants to keep the run going after cruising to a 5-1 victory over Emma Bonney in the Greene King World Ladies Snooker Championship final.

“It hasn’t been the best, performance-wise,” admitted Evans. “But I’m just happy enough to win again. I always felt pretty comfortable in my own ability to win the matches.”

And she added: “A win is a win. I want to keep it going.”

Sporting her favourite pink-backed waistcoat and trademark ponytail, the 25-year-old raced to a 3-0 lead at the Pot Black Sports Bar in Bury St Edmunds, Suffolk.

Bonney, who the previous day had claimed the billiards title, was unable to capitalise on the chances she was given.

But in the fourth frame, the 34-year-old from Portsmouth started a charge. Evans made a mess of escaping from a snooker and Bonney scored enough to leave her opponent chasing snookers.

After the mid-session interval, Bonney spurned a glorious chance to reduce the deficit to one.

After Evans had twice broken down in the balls, Bonney responded with a 44, the highest break of the match.

However, in a devastating blow, Bonney failed to escape from the required snooker and Evans sunk a exquisite long pink with stun run-through to land perfectly on the black and snatch the frame.

Evans said: “I couldn’t have hit it any better. She looked like she should’ve won but I dug in.”

A 42 clearance to the black in the sixth secured the £1,000 prize money.

It was Evans’ 29th World Ladies Billiards & Snooker Association ranking title. And it extended her record unbeaten run on the WLBSA circuit to 88 matches.

The only player to take a frame off the champion before the final was Hong Kong’s impressive 20-year-old Ng On Yee, the 2009 and 2010 IBSF Women’s World Champion.

World number three Bonney, who pocketed the £100 high-break prize for a 67 against Revanna Umadevi in the last-16, booked her place in the final with a dramatic 4-3 last-four victory from 3-1 down against world number two Maria Catalano.

It was the first time the Suffolk market town had hosted the WLBSA season finale.

KNOCKOUT RESULTS (BREAKS)

LAST-16 (£80): Reanne Evans (49) beat Marianne Williams 3-0, Ng On Yee (50) beat Hannah Jones 3-0, Jaique Ip Wan In beat Eva Palmius 3-1, Tatjana Vasiljeva beat Katie Henrick 3-1, Emma Bonney (67, 35) beat Revanna Umadevi 3-1, Yu Ching Ching beat Jenny Poulter 3-1, So Man Yan beat Chris Sharpe 3-1, Maria Catalano (43, 44, 57) beat Natascha Niermann 3-0.

QUARTER-FINALS (£130): Evans (32, 36) beat Ng 4-1, Bonney (40, 57) beat Yu (66) 4-1, Vasiljeva (32, 38, 38, 31) beat Ip Wan In 4-3, Catalano (47) beat Yan 4-0.

SEMI-FINALS (£250): Evans (31, 45, 34, 64) beat Vasiljeva 4-0, Bonney (58) beat Catalano 4-3.

FINAL (£1,000/£500): Evans (42, 34, 36, 42) beat Bonney (44) 5-1.

Tim Dunkley (WLBSA press officer)

[philip in china]

What was the highest break in the contest?

[Karen]

a 67 from Emma Bonney