Women's Professional Snooker Championship

Women's Professional Snooker Championship
Tournament information
LocationLondon
CountryEngland
Established1934
Organisation(s)Women's Billiards Association
FormatSingle elimination
Final year1950
Final championThelma Carpenter

The Women's Professional Snooker Championship was a snooker tournament organised by the Women's Billiards Association. Held ten times, the event was first played from 1934 to 1941, and again from 1947 to 1950.[1][2] Across all ten editions, only four players reached the final. Ruth Harrison won eight of the events, with Agnes Morris and Thelma Carpenter winning the others.

The Women's Billiards Association was established in 1931, and instituted an amateur snooker tournament two years later, after initiating championships for English billiards.[3] Their professional snooker championship was first held in 1934, and was open to players from England, Northern Ireland, Scotland, Wales, and the Irish Free State.[1][4] At the time, women's snooker gained less coverage than women's English billiards.[5]

Harrison, who won the inaugural title, had started playing the game two years earlier.[6] In the semi-final, she eliminated her coach Eva Collins.[6][7] In the final, she defeated Joyce Gardner, as she had in the final of the Women's Professional Billiards Championship a few days earlier.[8] Harrison won each instance of the annual event to 1940, and claimed her eighth title when the tournament was re-established in 1947,[1] after it had been suspended during World War II.[9] She did not participate in the 1949 tournament as she felt that holding the event in June meant it would fall outside of the annual snooker season,[10] and only Carpenter and Morris entered for the 1950 championship.[11]

The first tournaments were held at Burroughes Hall, London, and the events from 1947 took place at Leicester Square Hall, London. The last time that the tournament was held, in 1950, Carpenter took the title, a few days after winning the World Women's Billiards Championship event.[12] Gardner and Carpenter were the only two entries for the 1951 championship, which was due to be staged at the Albright and Wilson Recreation Club in Langley, but Gardner withdrew because of her mother's illness,[13] and that year's event was cancelled.[14] The 1950 event proved to be the last time the tournament was held, as public interest in the contest declined.[1]

The Women's World Open in 1976 and 1980 were later recognised as the first editions of the World Women's Snooker Championship.[15] Gardner, three-times Women's Professional Snooker Championship runner-up, was the top seed in 1976,[16] and Morris, the 1949 champion, reached the final in 1980.[17]

  1. ^ a b c d Cite error: The named reference EVERTON was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  2. ^ Cite error: The named reference TIMES34 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  3. ^ Morrison, Ian (1987). The Hamlyn Encyclopedia of Snooker (revised ed.). Twickenham: Hamlyn Publishing Group. pp. 156–157. ISBN 978-0-600-55604-6.
  4. ^ "Women's Snooker Championship". Sheffield Independent. 27 January 1934. p. 12.
  5. ^ Cooper, Brendan (2023). Deep Pockets: Snooker and the Meaning of Life. Constable. p. 168. ISBN 978-1-40871-776-9.
  6. ^ a b Lindrum, Horace (1974). Horace Lindrum's Snooker, Billiards and Pool. Dee Why West, Australia: Paul Hamlyn Pty. p. 121. ISBN 978-0-7271-0105-1.
  7. ^ "Miss Harrison's Win". Birmingham Daily Gazette. 21 February 1934. p. 12.
  8. ^ "Women's Snooker: Miss Ruth Harrison Carries Off Championship". Sheffield Independent. 27 February 1934. p. 10.
  9. ^ "Billiards for ladies". The Billiard Player. July 1946. pp. 3–4.
  10. ^ "Sunday Sun". 22 May 1949.
  11. ^ Cite error: The named reference BP50 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  12. ^ Cite error: The named reference WDP50 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  13. ^ "Postponement". Birmingham Mail. 20 March 1951. p. 3.
  14. ^ "News: Women's Billiards Association". The Billiard Player. April 1951. p. 12.
  15. ^ "WWS History". World Women's Snooker. Archived from the original on 1 August 2022. Retrieved 27 July 2023.
  16. ^ Davison, John (5 April 1976). "Vera Must Fight To Win This Title". Evening Chronicle. p. 17.
  17. ^ "World Champions". World Women's Snooker. Archived from the original on 18 August 2019.