Eden Women’s Masters 2023 | Tournament Preview
The first matches of the Eden Women’s Masters will get underway this Friday (17 November) as the final World Women’s Snooker Tour event of the calendar year is contested in London.
To be held over three days from 17-19 November, the Eden Women’s Masters celebrates its 10th birthday and will take place for a fourth time at Frames Sports Bar, Coulsdon with the support of owner Tony Thompson and our title sponsor Eden Resources.
The main competition will see a strong field including six-time winner Reanne Evans and defending champion Mink Nutcharut contest the title, as well as former ranking event winners Jamie Hunter and Tessa Davidson.
The top three seeds Nutcharut, Evans and Rebecca Kenna – who are also set to compete on the professional World Snooker Tour this Saturday – will be seeded through to the last 16 stage, with the remaining 28 players drawn into seven groups of four. The top two players from each group will progress to the knockout stage to begin on Saturday evening with one preliminary round match.
Alongside the main tournament there will also be side-tournaments held for Under-21 and Seniors players, as well as a Challenge Cup on Sunday for players who do not reach the last 16.
Also due to be completed is the outstanding UK Championship Seniors final between Tessa Davidson and Mary Talbot-Deegan, held over from the September event.
To the main draw…
The Top Three
Top seed Mink Nutcharut will return to Frames as defending champion for the first time and will be looking to seal her third world ranking title of 2023 – to match her title triple earned in 2022.
Among those planning to deny the world number one will of course be England’s Reanne Evans, a record six-time winner of the event (2013-2019), who will also be hoping to avenge a deciding-frame defeat to Nutcharut in last year’s semi-finals.
Also set to begin in the last 16 stage is 2018 finalist and current professional Rebecca Kenna, who will be aiming to go one better in 2023.
Group A
Two years on from her Tour comeback at the Eden Masters, England’s Jasmine Bolsover returns to Frames as top seed in Group A looking to improve upon her last 16 result earned in 2021.
The 23-year-old scored arguably the best win since she returned to the circuit at this event 12 months ago as she ended the winning streak of Jamie Hunter in the last 16, before losing out to Rebecca Kenna in the quarter-finals.
Joining her in Group A will be compatriots Cheryl Calverley and Emma Powers-Richardson, as well as Scotland’s Sophie Nix, who scored an impressive victory against top 10 player Emma Parker at the UK Championship in September.
Group B
Junior number one Zoe Killington heads up Group B and will be hoping to celebrate five years on Tour by reaching the knockout rounds at the Eden Masters for what would be the second time (2021).
The 17-year-old will begin with a group which includes fellow English players Lesley Roberts and Marianne Williams – who makes her first appearance of the season.
Completing the group is Scotland’s Sarah Milne, who also played at this season’s UK Championship in September.
Group C
Tessa Davidson returns to the venue at which she memorably compiled a break of 114 a year ago – her first century break on the Tour in 28 years.
Having risen to back inside the world’s top 10 for the first time since her comeback earlier this season, Davidson is joined by Guernsey’s Kate Le Gallez – who reached her first last 16 at this event back in 2019 – and Scotland’s Louise Foster.
Rounding off the group will be Tallulah Michael, who aged just 10 is set to become the youngest ranked player currently on the circuit following the event.
Group D
England’s Emma Parker is set to lead Group D as she looks to at least match her semi-final run achieved at the event back in 2018.
Having narrowly lost out 3-2 to reigning world champion Baipat Siripaporn at the UK Championship earlier this season, Parker will be confident of another strong performance in Coulsdon.
The 24-year-old is set to lead an all-English group that will also feature former junior champion Hannah Ward, who herself enjoyed a successful return to the circuit in Leeds following eight years out of action.
They will be joined by Clare Gamble – who reached the last 32 at Frames a year ago – and 12-year-old Ellise Scott, who made her Tour debut at the Eden Masters in 2022.
Group E
World number nine Mary Talbot-Deegan will be competing on home ground at Frames Sports Bar 12 months on from a strong quarter-final showing at the event.
The English player will be joined by Scotland’s Gillian Hayes – who reached the knockout rounds on her debut at the recent UK Championship – as well as 15-year-old Laura Killington and Shabnam Younus-Jewell, who will be one of two tour debutants in action this weekend.
Group F
Two-time ranking event winner Jamie Hunter heads to Coulsdon with a chance to become world number four for the first time with a strong performance this weekend.
Standing in her way during the group stages will be Annamaria Wilkins of Hungary, as well as Scottish duo Mhairi Mackay and Deborah Fladgate, who will both be looking to reach the knockout rounds at Frames for the first time.
Group G
The seventh and final group is topped by England’s Steph Daughtery, whose best performance at the tournament came in 2018 when she reached the last 16 stage.
Awaiting the 22-year-old in 2023 will be compatriot Sarah Dunn – a recent finalist on the EPSB Winchester Women’s Open Series – as well as Iran’s Zeinab Shahi and Mariia Shevchenko.
Side-Tournaments
As ever, there will also be side-tournaments staged across the weekend for the Under-21 and Seniors players.
We are guaranteed a first-time champion in the Under-21 section with top ranked Zoe Killington and Sophie Nix among five players set to contest the title.
In the Seniors competition, a strong 12-player field meanwhile will see Tessa Davidson look to defend the title that she won for the first time a year ago, with 2021 winner Mary Talbot-Deegan, Sarah Dunn and Annamaria Wilkins among those who will be looking to wrestle the crown from her.
Both Davidson and Talbot-Deegan will also contest the UK Seniors final, to be played from 3pm on Friday.
All the action gets underway on Friday from 3:00pm GMT, with the latest match results and standings available via WPBSA SnookerScores.
