Introduction

Keighley’s Rebecca Kenna is one of the most famous faces on the World Women’s Snooker (WWS) Tour. Since she joined the tour in 2016, she has consistently gone deep into some of the most prestigious events on the calendar. Rebecca reached her first WWS final during the 2017 Connie Gough Trophy, defeating Suzie Opacic and 11-time World Champion Reanne Evans along the way. She was up against Maria Catalano, who defeated her by winning 4-2. She reached her next finals in the 2018 UK Women’s Championship and the Eden Women’s Masters. In particular, she has reached the semi-final stages of the Women’s World Snooker Championships three times in a row since 2016.

Most recently, Rebecca sensationally left the Crosshills & District Snooker League after consistently being prevented from playing snooker matches due to some clubs operating a ‘men’s only” policy. Her story eventually became global, appearing on national programmes such as The One Show and Good Morning Britain to protest against sexual discrimination in sport. She also has a Level 2 – 1st 4 Sport Coaching Snooker Qualification.

We wonderfully caught up after her Q School campaign as she prepares for this year’s Women’s World Snooker Championship. It takes place in Thailand between 20th – 23rd June 2019.

Interview – Rebecca Kenna

CoR: Who was your inspiration when you started to learn to play snooker?

Rebecca Kenna: I spent a lot of my childhood in pubs and clubs with my Dad. He always played pool and snooker, so once I was 8 years old and tall enough I was straight on the tables myself. I remember my Dad watching snooker on TV in the mid-90s, and I always wanted Stephen Hendry to win as I had a little crush on him. I suppose my inspiration was my father really. He taught me the game and consequently going to the club to play snooker was our favourite thing to do.

CoR: What would you think is your best achievement to date?

Rebecca Kenna: I suppose it would be reaching three consecutive Women’s World Championship semi-finals. I am yet to win a ranking event, so in my eyes I haven’t really achieved anything yet. This season I’ve reached two finals so I know I’m close, which drives me to keep going.

CoR: Women’s Snooker seems to be increasing in popularity tenfold over the past few years!

Rebecca Kenna: Yes, it’s slowly improving, the WWS are always making improvements and we are slowly seeing participation increase. The website and social media have improved massively from when I first joined the tour in 2016. The pages are welcoming and have great content.

Coverage on the Women’s game at the Pro World Championships was much greater this year, which was fantastic. The hope is that young girls can see that, be inspired, and realise that they can give it go too. There’s also been a large increase in people taking the Level 1 snooker-coaching course, which has helped set up junior academies and tournaments.

CoR: Which areas do you believe Women’s Snooker can improve on at the moment?

Rebecca Kenna: There’s a lot to be done across all areas really. Cash injection into the game would set the ball rolling! At the moment, the money WWS have to run all year and put into tournaments is tiny. To stretch their money, we have shorter tournaments with shorter formats and we would need to cram a lot of snooker in. More importantly, this usually means delays and late finishes.

We are slowly seeing more money come in to have a more ‘World Tour’. But with the prize money still being low, there’s not a lot of incentive for lower ranked players to travel. You would usually have to reach a semi-final or better just to break even. So many girls miss out on entering these tournaments, which would give them a great experience. More money means more incentives, which will be to increased participation. That will mean better quality snooker, which will attract more coverage and sponsorship that will lead to more money and so on!

CoR: What would be your ideal tournament (location, length of frames, etc.)?

Rebecca Kenna: Firstly, I think the venue for this year’s Worlds is fantastic – I definitely want to play there. Secondly, I think BO7 would be best going up to the semi-final, which is BO9, then BO11 for the final. Finally, separate days for the semi-finals and the final with intervals.

CoR: You must be excited about the new Tour Championship at the Crucible…

Rebecca Kenna: Yes, very! What a dream to compete at The Crucible with a crowd there to watch us! Because it only includes the Top 4 players, it offers greater incentive for the other players to try to get in the top of the rankings.

CoR: Do you think the standard has gone up since you joined the tour a few years ago?

Rebecca Kenna: Yes definitely, but not massively and not by many. Some players have more advantage than others in the assistance they get. If we all had the same help, I believe it would be much more competitive and we could see just how talented the players are.

CoR: We have to talk about the immense amount of media coverage you’ve been getting over the previous couple of months! For those who don’t know, in your own words, why did you decide to leave the Crosshills & District Snooker League?

Rebecca Kenna: I joined the league in 2014 and there were two clubs each with two teams that were ‘men only’ clubs. During the first season, I was told I would just have to miss the matches at their venues. The first time I did that I felt terrible because I had to watch my team go play without me because I’m female. Every year, I tried to get something changed to play every match and every year, nothing has changed. I felt let down by the league and fellow players who wouldn’t support my requests or changes. So I quit in 2017.

CoR: After appearances on The One Show, Good Morning Britain and BBC Yorkshire, did you expect the amount of attention to blow up like it did?

Rebecca Kenna: It was incredible! Yes, it was huge! I felt like a celebrity for a week! I had to address the problem and there was a huge bonus of all the publicity that increased the profile of the women’s game.

CoR: Have there been any recent developments since then?

Rebecca Kenna: Before the start of the new season in September, there will be the AGM. Hopefully, we can change something then.

CoR: Looking forward to the World Women’s Snooker World Championship, you have a very consistent record in this tournament…

Rebecca Kenna: It’s a reflection of my ranking, I’ve shown I can compete and reach the back end of tournaments, I’m not far off going one or two steps further.

CoR: Do you prepare for that tournament any differently to the other events?

Rebecca Kenna: The game is the same, but the venue is amazing with Star tables and quality conditions, so I’m trying to make my own table faster and to get table time on tight pockets to replicate conditions. So plenty of solo and match practice at the moment. Then hopefully I will perform well over in Thailand.

CoR: Has your recent Q School campaign been good preparation for the World Championships?

Rebecca Kenna: Yes, I learned a lot from it. I had many pink and black ball games. It was a test to see where my game is at and what needs to improve.

CoR: How much would it mean for you to win the World Championships?

Rebecca Kenna: I’m going over there to win it. If I think too much about what it means, it could mess with me mentally. Being strong mentally is very important in snooker. Therefore, the calmer I go into this tournament the better chance I have of performing my best. I won’t be putting any pressure on myself because I’m going to play a sport I love in an amazing place. I have never been to Thailand, and it’s fantastic that the tour now has us travelling to new places that I wouldn’t normally have visited!

Lastly, I just want to thank my sponsors for the season: ADR147, Comet Steel Ltd Taom, and Simon Ramsden.

Acknowledgments

Many thanks go to Rebecca Kenna for taking her time out to be interviewed by me. I wish her the very best for the World Championships!

I take no credit for the photos used in this interview.

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