It feels like more than a week since Reanne Evans lifted the World title for a phenomenal twelfth time. For those who need a recap, Evans beat 19 year-old Nutcharut Wongharuthai 6-3 to win the World Women’s Snooker Championship for a record-extending 12th time. Not only that, she strengthened her grip on the No. 1 spot in the Women’s World rankings. For three-time and then-defending champion Ng On-yee, losing a frame against Australian Jessica Woods proved too pivotal. This placed her among more difficult competition in the knockout rounds. This proved to be the case, as Ng lost 4-1 to Wongharuthai in the quarter-finals.
It’s now a perfect time to sit back and reflect – what next for the Women’s Snooker Tour? What stories can we take from this tournament that could define the next number of seasons?
Reanne Evans still a dominating force on the Women’s Tour
When I wrote the preview of this World Championships, I mentioned that the main talking point for me is the rivalry between Evans and three-time and then-defending champion, Ng On-yee. Yet Evans polished the competition without too much trouble, not even dropping a set in the group stages. She even had to fight back from 2-1 down in the quarter-finals against World Cup winner Waratthanun Sukritthanes to win 4-2.
As well as notching the highest break of the tournament of 92 in the final, she claimed her TWELFTH World Championship title. That phenomenal feat is worth mentioning again and again throughout this article. Evans is comfortably No.1 in the rankings after a very strong season, much more superior than Ng’s. Evans is likely to pull further ahead when ranking points of the 2017/18 season will be erased too. This means Evans could dominate the sport once again. Normal service has resumed, perhaps?
It is amazing that Evans hasn’t received as much recognition that she deserves. One could argue that this is one of her best wins, considering the greater talent and quality on the tour compared to a decade ago. This is a fantastic thing for the sport, as it raises its profile further, which will hopefully mean more sponsors and more prize money coming through. Her win makes the World Championship even more delicious and prestigious. The fact that she won it for the twelfth time epitomises how great she is.
Wongharuthai leading the youthful charge
Even before the World Championships, a lot of people were already aware of how good Nutcharut is. The 19-year-old Thai had already reached three finals prior to this event. She beat Ng on her way to the 2018 British Open final. She beat Ng again as well as Wendy Jans to reach the 2018 European Women’s final and made the final of the 2019 World Women’s 6-Red Championship. Unfortunately, she was beaten in all finals by Reanne Evans.
Back in March 2019, ‘Mink’ made her first 147 break. According to Women’s Snooker, “it is believed that the break is the first ever 147 break to have been compiled by a woman in a match, either practice or in tournament play.” You are able to see it in a YouTube clip below:
Though Mink struggled in the group stages, she managed to beat four Top 16 players to reach the World final, dropping just three frames. This included the scalps of Ho, Laura Evans, Ng and Jans. She is rapidly improving during her short stint on tour, which many tipping her to end the rivalry between Ng and Evans. Hope she wins a title soon!
That is not to say that she is the only young prospect to impress. U-21 European Masters Champion Emma Parker failed to drop a single frame in the group stages and rose to her career-high ranking of ninth in the world. 16 year-old Ploychompoo Laokiatphong reached the quarter-finals of the Worlds. Shockingly, 11-year-old Russian Ksenia Zhukova qualified for the knockouts by winning two out of the three matches! Incredible.
Will this finally mean one of them can win a title next season and break the deadlock? Let’s hope so.
The standard of the World Championships are getting higher
President Mandy Fisher said that the 2019 World Championship was the best. Newly-crowned champion Evans said it was one of the greatest ever. This is a far cry from the 1994 World Championships in India. After numerous delays, Alison Fisher ended up playing in “just a concrete room with the air conditioning hanging out of the door and a red curtain on the wall.” It was then when Fisher gave up snooker to play competitive pool.
It had the magic and some shocks of the World Championships. Wongharuthai, Ho Yee Ki and Rebecca Kenna initially struggled in the group stages, losing to little-known players. In fact, it is interesting to see Baipat Siripaporn in the semi-finals, who has now leapt to No. 31 in the rankings.
Over the past few years, the Women’s World Snooker Championship was held in Singapore and Malta. This year it was Bangkok’s turn, with Hi-end Snooker Club as the hosting club. The facilities were supposed to be world-class and the organisation was superb. Not only that, it is highly competitive as well. 54 players are represented by 14 countries, showing that women’s snooker is more global than ever before.
This event is now a target of how future World Championships should be held. in the meantime, here’s a video of the entire event!
