Introduction

Evans entered her first World Ladies’ Snooker Championship in 2002 and reached the semi-finals when she was 16 years old. Since 2005, she won ten World titles in a row, including once when she was eight months pregnant! Even though Ng On-yee broke that streak in 2015, Reanne continued to win ranking tournaments on the Women’s circuit. She also won her 11th and 12th Worlds crown in 2016 and 2019 respectively.

Reanne also qualified for the main tour between 2010-11 but fell off the tour. Since then, she took a number of impressive scalps in professional tournaments. Evans became the first woman to qualify for a ranking event by defeating Thepchaiya Un-Nooh in the 2013 Wuxi Classic qualifiers. Her most impressive victory was against 2016 Shoot-Out champion Robin Hull in the first round, defeating the Finn 10-8. Recently, Evans participated in the Snooker Shoot-Out and the World Snooker Championship qualifiers on a few occasions.

Evans also became a pundit for Eurosport and the BBC. Lastly, she recently was appointed Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE) in the 2020 Birthday Honours for services to women’s snooker.

We had a lovely chat earlier and our interview is underneath. Enjoy!

Interview – Reanne Evans MBE

Member of the British Empire

CoR: First off, congratulations! How does it feel to receive such an honour and has it sunk in yet?

Reanne Evans MBE: It came a little bit of a shock! I thought it was a joke at first. It was hard to keep it quiet for a while, even from family and friends. I had lovely messages from everyone since the announcement. But I don’t think it will really sink in till I am awarded it properly. It would be such an experience.

I haven’t received any information regards to when how I will receive my MBE yet. Hopefully, I will be able to get the full experience so I don’t mind waiting!

CoR: Does it give you a sense of pride, considering that many have taken notice of your achievements?

Reanne Evans MBE: I feel this my proudest moment because this means I’m being recognised from outside of the snooker circle. You get pats on the back and recognition from the snooker world. It’s a big deal for me to be honoured for snooker and then being a women in snooker.

CoR: What impact do you think this will have in women’s snooker?

Reanne Evans MBE: I just hope snooker and especially women’s snooker can kick on from this. We are growing but hopefully this will give us this big push we need to make things happen sooner.

Best Beginnings

CoR: For those who don’t know already, how did you get involved in snooker in the first place?

Reanne Evans MBE: My whole family played snooker. My Mum, Dad, and my two older brothers played – we could have had our own team! Mum taught my Dad when they met because she used to play with my Granddad.

My two brothers were very good players. My eldest played more competitively and I used to follow him around. I played snooker for the first time when I was about 13 years old. Snooker felt quite natural to me. I entered my first women’s competition at 16 and then it all started from there.

CoR: What would you say is your greatest achievement in your career so far?

Reanne Evans MBE: I have been so lucky to have so many great moments. I could mention my first competition when I reached the World semi-finals playing at The Crucible. Winning when pregnant. Beating John Higgins in the 2009 Six-red World Championship. Qualifying for the main stages of the 2013 Wuxi Classic. Nearly beating Ken Doherty in 2015. Playing Shaun Murphy on TV in one of the snooker’s biggest events.

But I think beating Robin Hull in the Worlds Qualifying is my biggest achievement. It’s the World Championship on the main tour against a very good opponent in a BO19 match. I gave it the fist-pump at the end so I must have been happy!

Career Reflections

CoR: Do you have good memories of the Champion of Champions which is going on at the moment?

Reanne Evans MBE: Playing the Champion of Champions was a very big deal for me – it is a major event live on TV against the world’s best players.

I was nervous going out but I was excited and looking forward to it. I realised the table was way too fast and more responsive than I’m used to when I started playing a few shots. It threw me and I put too much pressure on myself. Then I manage to scrape my first frame and I started to settle. Murphy wasn’t at his best but I started to put him under some pressure by making some good pots and little but important clearances.

Going into a decider I really thought I could win it, then Murphy spoiled things and made a fabulous break to win. I’m gutted not to be in it this year. I thought I might sneak in but rules are rules.

CoR: Do you think your recent rivalry with Ng On-yee and Nutcharut Wongharuthai (Mink) had any influence in your career?

Reanne Evans MBE: Of course. You can get complacent on the table and just take winning for granted. Maybe I was guilty of that at some stage, but you learn more from the losses and if you think in the right way, you can use it to your advantage and look at what you need to improve on.

Off the table, they are all really nice and we all get on. It’s a nice atmosphere on women’s tour. But we are rivals on the table and we all want to win.

Lockdown Life with Lollipop

CoR: How have yourself and daughter Lauren been coping with the lockdown?

Reanne Evans MBE: Lockdown has been rubbish!

But it’s been hard for everyone. Just bad timing for myself as it put on hold my snooker and some TV work. My daughter is like any teenager. She just moaned about how bored she was. We’ve tried to deal with it the best we can but that’s life. She just wants a holiday when we can get back to some normality!

CoR: Have you been picking up random and unexpected hobbies during that time?

Reanne Evans MBE: I’m getting better at moving things from one place to another! I’ve been doing more cooking and baking but I’m not like snooker chefs Michael Holt and Alfie Burden though!

CoR: You were playing in the World Snooker Championship Qualifiers and Q School. How weird was the atmosphere then?

Reanne Evans MBE: I was lucky I managed to play in World Qualifiers. Gutted with the result (losing to Andy Hicks 6-3) as I hardly had any match practice. Playing in front of cameras but without a crowd was very strange for all of us.

Q School was also very strange. It’s a tough format anyway, but this time was more difficult because the conditions were more difficult. Fair play to those who qualified. Just wish I could perform for a week when I play it!

CoR: How are World Women’s Snooker supporting yourself and their players during these strange times?

Reanne Evans MBE: The Women’s Tour doesn’t have the resources to help out players or put on the events with all the extra restrictions and costs at the moment. It’s looking like a year or so in between events. Let’s just hope we can all get back on track.

The Future Of Women’s Snooker

CoR: Looking at the future of Women’s Snooker, Which players do you believe will have a bright future in the sport?

Reanne Evans MBE: The girls to watch at the moment are Mink and Emma Parker. Mink is a little older now with more experience so she could do great things. Emma has a job aside from snooker, so it’s hard for her to focus properly, but hopefully she will find a way to put the work in needed and improve. And keep the flag flying for England! 16 year-old Bai Yulu, who is the World U21 Women’s Champion also has potential. It’s so good to have players from all over the world to keep pushing each other to be better.

CoR: What would you say to any girls who want to play snooker but don’t know where to start?

Reanne Evans MBE: It’s literally just pick up the cue. If you enjoy it, keep playing, no matter what people think or say. Try and get someone in your corner to guide you. Also watch and learn! 

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Acknowledgments

Many thanks go to Reanne Evans for taking her time out to be interviewed by me.

I take no credit for the photos used in this interview. World Professional Billiards and Snooker Association (WPBSA) and World Women’s Snooker (WWS) are the owners of some of the photographic material.

All rights reserved. Republication or redistribution of content is expressly prohibited without the written consent of the author (Cluster of Reds Snooker Blog).