Latest news with #WorldWomen'sSnookerTour
Newsroom
12-05-2025
- Sport
- Newsroom
Kiwi aims to bring the world to our snooker tables
Agnes Kimura is fundraising hard to head to China for the 2025 World Women's Snooker Championship, but playing against her peers isn't the most important part of the trip. Instead, she has a much bigger goal in mind. With the men's world championships just completed in England, it's less than a month before the women's version takes centre stage, with the annual highlight of the World Women's Snooker Tour, taking place in Dongguan, from May 20-27. With Kimura being a board member of the New Zealand Billiards & Snooker Association (NZBSA) she's made it clear that she'll be going all out to network around her playing schedule. 'I've let my board know that my intention is to go to China and come back with a date or a year that we are going to hold a world event. The bonus is playing and being amongst these ladies,' says Kimura, who is currently ranked number 41 in the world. Currently, the closest world event to New Zealand shores is the Australian Women's Open, which will take place in Sydney this October. That event provides world ranking points to participants and Kimura knows that if she can get a similar event in Aotearoa, it will make a huge difference to the sport here. 'I'm very close with [women's world ranked number one player] Mink Nutcharut and I'm in touch with some of the other ladies as well, and the Australian ladies,' Kimura says. Kimura winning a world amateur title with her team in Las Vegas in 2018. Photo: Supplied 'If you're wanting to promote something coming into your country, how are they supposed to know what your country is like if there's no-one from there at your event? I'll [also] talk to players that I've never met before.' In February 2024, Kimura played a key role in setting up the New Zealand Women's Open to take place for the first time in over 20 years, which opened up the competition to female players outside New Zealand. 'With my friendships and bonds that I have with the Australian ladies, I managed to get nine of them to travel over here and we had a big field of 30 which we haven't seen for years.' The event took place over two days at the Papatoetoe Cosmopolitan Club in Auckland, with a key reason for that choice of venue being that it has eight world class tables, a big deal for the best players in the world, and something that the NZBSA would need to provide for a world ranking event. 'World class players, the first thing they're going to do is hit that ball around the table and if they don't like it, they're not coming back. They know the cloth, they know the run of the table, they know the pockets, all that sort of stuff. A lot of people don't realise that, but that's what they look at, they're used to playing on quality tables,' Kimura says. Kimura started playing about 20 years ago and the sport became an integral part of life for her and her family. Coach Stanley Bunn, now retired, with Kimura. Photo: Supplied 'I started watching my partner [Lee Hildred] play. He used to play a lot of snooker back when we were younger. Stanley Bunn, the national coach, owned Cue Sports in New Plymouth, and we used to go there all the time. I just used to go and watch, I had no idea what they were doing. Then I got asked if I wanted a job and I said yes and next minute I'm refereeing at the table and I'm pulling the balls out of the pockets and it went from there,' Kimura says. Bunn then started to show Kimura different shots on the table and asked her to practise them for 15 minutes every day and gradually her game started to develop and improve. 'I suppose you don't know if you've got it until people actually start telling you, because you don't see it [yourself]. Others notice it via your shot selection, or your stance. Personally, I just love the game. There's always learning and there's so much to being on top of your game with cue sports. I think it's the hardest sport you can play.' Her son Mario Hildred has also represented New Zealand, winning the Oceania U21 singles championships in Sydney in 2018, to go alongside his mother's sole New Zealand national title to date, which she won in 2016, in Gore. Kimura with husband Lee and son Mario. Photo: Supplied Finding time to practise is now one of the hardest parts for Kimura. She works as a security guard for 24/7 Security Solutions in New Plymouth, has two grandchildren and has her work for the NZBSA board, all on top of playing. Being time poor is also a reason it can be a struggle to get other women involved in the sport. 'It doesn't suit everyone. It's really, really hard to get these ladies to come and play snooker and stay. They might like a quicker game like 8-ball (pool). It takes a specific type of woman to enjoy it [but] once you do fall into liking it, you turn into loving it,' Kimura says. 'I know women who want to play, but they just need a push. I spend time encouraging women to play more snooker and how to go about it, and who to get help from, because if they don't know where to get help from, they're not going to play.' After helping so many women take up snooker and keeping them interested, Kimura now heads to China looking for the sport in New Zealand to take the next step. If hard work and dedication has anything to do with it, she'll get her break.
The Independent
02-05-2025
- Politics
- The Independent
‘Unheard' Maria Catalano hoping snooker changes policies on transgender women
Maria Catalano hopes snooker changes its policies on transgender women so that she can return to the sport she loves, but says she feels 'unheard' by its governing body. Catalano says snooker is 'in her blood'. Her cousin is none other than the sport's biggest name, Ronnie O'Sullivan. She is a former world number one in her own right, having won 11 women's ranking event titles. However, since 2022 the 43-year-old has self-excluded from the sport in protest at its decision to allow trans women to compete in female events with reduced testosterone levels. That policy is being reviewed by snooker's world governing body, the World Professional Billiards and Snooker Association (WPBSA), in light of a UK Supreme Court ruling last month which clarified that 'sex' in the Equality Act meant biological sex. A new report has found that another cue sport, pool, is gender-affected, prompting that sport's governing body to bar transgender women last week. Catalano is convinced men have a physical advantage over women in snooker too. 'I just feel so unheard. Any time (this issue is) mentioned, it's put down to hate speech,' she told the PA news agency. 'I'm happy for people to be happy in whatever walk of life they choose. (This protest is) nothing to do with how people want to live their life. It is just about all the unfairness. 'Women cannot compete at the level the men do. They might win the odd match (against biological men) but for me, winning one match is not competing. 'I know everybody in the world has feelings. I know trans people have feelings, but biological women have feelings too.' Catalano says she first raised the issue in 2021 after a match against trans woman Harriet Haynes, who is currently involved in a legal action against the English Blackball Pool Federation (EBPF) after it changed its rules to exclude her. Since then, Catalano says she has consistently been 'shut down' on this topic by the WPBSA and its chairperson, Jason Ferguson. It is understood there are no trans women on the World Women's Snooker Tour, which ends this month with the World Championship in China. But only a rule change would convince Catalano to chase her dream of returning to play in that tournament, and she has little confidence that a change will happen. She says stepping out of the sport has been tough to take. 'I was at tournaments, I tried (to continue), and I just had tears in my eyes and I just thought: 'I can't put myself through this any more'. Because I had to protect myself at some point. 'But then (not playing) was also hard, because I've played since I was 15.' Catalano continues to play at lower levels since she self-excluded from top-level sport, but admitted: 'I've hit depression really bad because this year – I've felt like I've got nothing to play for. 'I would love to go back, snooker is in the blood.' She does not know whether a legal action of the type which forced a change in pool could happen in snooker. 'I know some snooker players are quite frightened to say anything because they know they can get banned,' she said. A WPBSA spokesperson said: 'The WPBSA is currently conducting a review of its trans and gender diverse policy. The views of key stakeholders within the sport including our players have always been considered in the creation of this policy, alongside all relevant legislation in the UK and around the world, and recognised guidance. 'The World Women's Snooker Tour is a welcoming environment. Maria Catalano remains welcome at World Women's Snooker Tour events, as has always been the case.'
The Herald Scotland
02-05-2025
- Sport
- The Herald Scotland
‘Unheard' Maria Catalano hoping snooker changes policies on transgender women
She is a former world number one in her own right, having won 11 women's ranking event titles. However, since 2022 the 43-year-old has self-excluded from the sport in protest at its decision to allow trans women to compete in female events with reduced testosterone levels. That policy is being reviewed by snooker's world governing body, the World Professional Billiards and Snooker Association (WPBSA), in light of a UK Supreme Court ruling last month which clarified that 'sex' in the Equality Act meant biological sex. A new report has found that another cue sport, pool, is gender-affected, prompting that sport's governing body to bar transgender women last week. Catalano is convinced men have a physical advantage over women in snooker too. 'I just feel so unheard. Any time (this issue is) mentioned, it's put down to hate speech,' she told the PA news agency. 'I'm happy for people to be happy in whatever walk of life they choose. (This protest is) nothing to do with how people want to live their life. It is just about all the unfairness. 'Women cannot compete at the level the men do. They might win the odd match (against biological men) but for me, winning one match is not competing. 'I know everybody in the world has feelings. I know trans people have feelings, but biological women have feelings too.' Catalano says she first raised the issue in 2021 after a match against trans woman Harriet Haynes, who is currently involved in a legal action against the English Blackball Pool Federation (EBPF) after it changed its rules to exclude her. Since then, Catalano says she has consistently been 'shut down' on this topic by the WPBSA and its chairperson, Jason Ferguson. It is understood there are no trans women on the World Women's Snooker Tour, which ends this month with the World Championship in China. WORLD WOMEN'S SNOOKER CHAMPIONSHIP 2025 | ENTER NOW! 🏆🇨🇳 The World Women's Snooker Championship returns to Dongguan Changping in China from 20-27 May and there are less than two weeks left to enter! 👇 — World Women's Snooker (@WomensSnooker) April 30, 2025 But only a rule change would convince Catalano to chase her dream of returning to play in that tournament, and she has little confidence that a change will happen. She says stepping out of the sport has been tough to take. 'I was at tournaments, I tried (to continue), and I just had tears in my eyes and I just thought: 'I can't put myself through this any more'. Because I had to protect myself at some point. 'But then (not playing) was also hard, because I've played since I was 15.' Catalano continues to play at lower levels since she self-excluded from top-level sport, but admitted: 'I've hit depression really bad because this year – I've felt like I've got nothing to play for. 'I would love to go back, snooker is in the blood.' She does not know whether a legal action of the type which forced a change in pool could happen in snooker. 'I know some snooker players are quite frightened to say anything because they know they can get banned,' she said. A WPBSA spokesperson said: 'The WPBSA is currently conducting a review of its trans and gender diverse policy. The views of key stakeholders within the sport including our players have always been considered in the creation of this policy, alongside all relevant legislation in the UK and around the world, and recognised guidance. 'The World Women's Snooker Tour is a welcoming environment. Maria Catalano remains welcome at World Women's Snooker Tour events, as has always been the case.'
Powys County Times
28-04-2025
- Sport
- Powys County Times
Snooker's transgender inclusion policy to be reviewed after Supreme Court ruling
Snooker will review its transgender inclusion policy in light of a landmark UK Supreme Court ruling, the sport's world governing body has said. The sport currently allows trans women to compete in its female category if they can demonstrate their testosterone has been below 10 nmol/L for at least 12 months, and then maintain it below that level. However, the World Professional Billiards and Snooker Association has told the PA news agency that policy will now be reviewed after the Supreme Court offered a clarification on the meaning of the Equality Act. 'Following on from the Supreme Court Ruling published on April 16 2025, the WPBSA is conducting a review of its Trans and Gender Diverse Policy,' the body said in a statement. 'The WPBSA's position has always been that its policy would be subject to immediate review should there be a change in circumstances. 'This is a complicated issue as the WPBSA is a world body and has to ensure it complies with equality legislation around the world as well as in the UK.' The review also comes after pool changed its trans inclusion policy last week following receipt of a report which concluded it was a gender-affected sport. Under the Equality Act, such sports can lawfully exclude competitors based on sex. The Supreme Court ruling clarified that references to 'sex' in the Equality Act meant 'biological sex'. The PA news agency understands there are currently no trans women on the World Women's Snooker Tour, which ends next month with the World Championship in China. One of the women who led a legal challenge in pool which prompted the commissioning of the report into whether it was gender-affected, Lynne Pinches, believes snooker should update its policy. 'Snooker needs to change, and other sports need to change,' she told PA. 'This (legal challenge) has never been about me. This has been about fairness. That needs to be across the board in every sport. 'If pool is gender-affected, then surely shooting is gender-affected, where you've got a gun kicking back on your shoulders, or archery, where it takes a lot of arm and upper chest strength and all the things that were arguable in the break shot in pool. 'This (report) will set a precedent, a lot of sports will want to get a copy of it or work on getting their own done as soon as possible.' The report in pool was commissioned following a legal challenge by a group of female players including Pinches, Francoise Rogers, Jo Hobday and Holly Cann after Ultimate Pool Group (UPG) and the International Eightball Pool Federation (IEPF) changed its rules to allow trans women to compete in October 2023, two months after banning them. Pinches has not played a UPG tournament since she conceded a match against trans woman Harriet Haynes in late 2023. She also turned down the chance to turn professional last year as a consequence of the UPG's stance on trans players.
The Independent
28-04-2025
- Sport
- The Independent
Snooker's transgender inclusion policy to be reviewed after Supreme Court ruling
Snooker will review its transgender inclusion policy in light of a landmark UK Supreme Court ruling, the sport's world governing body has said. The sport currently allows trans women to compete in its female category if they can demonstrate their testosterone has been below 10 nmol/L for at least 12 months, and then maintain it below that level. However, the World Professional Billiards and Snooker Association has told the PA news agency that policy will now be reviewed after the Supreme Court offered a clarification on the meaning of the Equality Act. 'Following on from the Supreme Court Ruling published on April 16 2025, the WPBSA is conducting a review of its Trans and Gender Diverse Policy,' the body said in a statement. 'The WPBSA's position has always been that its policy would be subject to immediate review should there be a change in circumstances. 'This is a complicated issue as the WPBSA is a world body and has to ensure it complies with equality legislation around the world as well as in the UK.' The review also comes after pool changed its trans inclusion policy last week following receipt of a report which concluded it was a gender-affected sport. Under the Equality Act, such sports can lawfully exclude competitors based on sex. The Supreme Court ruling clarified that references to 'sex' in the Equality Act meant 'biological sex'. The PA news agency understands there are currently no trans women on the World Women's Snooker Tour, which ends next month with the World Championship in China.
