Frances Tso Q&A

The recent WineCellars.com US Women’s Snooker Open marked the third annual staging of the world ranking event in Seattle and one player who has been an ever-present at the competition is home player Frances Tso.

The 28-year-old reached the quarter-finals on debut in 2022 and matched that run two years on before losing out to eventual champion Ng On Yee at the last eight stage at Ox Billiards.

We recently caught up with the world number 29 to reflect upon her time on the World Women’s Snooker Tour so far and the growth of our sport in the country.

Hi Frances, it was great to see you again at the US Open where you reached the quarter-finals for the second time. How was the tournament and did you enjoy being able to play snooker again?

The tournament was great! I look forward to this every year since it has started as there aren’t many snooker tournaments in the US and this is probably the one with the highest level of play. Aside from snooker, I look forward to the one time a year I get to see the international players that I’ve now become friends with.

Like in 2022, you lost to the eventual champion in the quarter-finals but you pushed On Yee hard in the first frame especially.

How exciting it is to be able to compete against the best players in the world and witness their skill first-hand. Of course, Ng made a break of 121 against you last year so this must have been particularly special to be a part of?

It is super exciting! The most important thing to me in snooker is mostly my own progress. Winning is a side effect so getting a chance to play the top players, even if I spend most of the time sitting/picking up balls, is always a great experience and a great chance to see how far I can get.

I will happily contribute to someone else’s century – though it would be nice to get to that level myself one day – I need more practice!

Tell us about your cuesports journey so far. How did you become interested in snooker in particular and what is it about the game that interests you?

I first encountered snooker when I started playing American pool again after Covid. I had played once or twice in random clubs in Hong Kong/China but nothing serious.

My friend recommended I check out Ox Billiards since I had just moved to the Seattle area at the time (2022) and that was the first time I saw snooker tables in the US. At the time, they were running the first season of snooker league and I got to know and talk to some of the players.

Prathamesh, a local player, was the one that taught me the rules and various strategies. In general, I love cue sports. The elegance in cue ball control and run outs, the different strategies you can play, seeing personal growth, and overall the community you get to be a part of greatly contributes to my love for the sport.

You have played in the US Open for the past three years – how important do you think it is for the Tour to have an event in the United States and do you feel that there is more potential for female players in the country to take up snooker?

Snooker is not a popular sport in the US so I think it’s really important for the tour to have an event in the US as it brings high level players to the country and can help drive interest. There aren’t many snooker tournaments normally (I think I can count the number of tournaments annually with two hands) so each high quality one is worth a lot.

I do hope that it drives more interest from female players in the country since it might contribute to the mindset of “look what she can do! I want to be able to do that too!”

Snooker is a very hard game so I think the immediate two groups of people that can contribute to the growth of the sport with women are enticing female pool players to try snooker and parents who get exposure to snooker and introduce their kids to it.

Of course, the event would not be possible without Mike Dominguez, Jaime Miller and the rest of the team at Ox Billiards. How special is that venue and what difference has it made to cuesports in the area since it was opened in 2021?

Ox Billiards is pretty much the only place in the Seattle area with tournament quality snooker and pool tables. For American pool, it’s the only place with enough 9fts (rather than bar box) to host a tournament.

Mike and Jaime has done a lot for the cuesports community from starting more snooker related events, getting pros from all over the world to come do exhibitions and lessons, and generally promoting both sports in the US.

I am definitely super thankful to them as a recipient of all these benefits and look forward to helping where I can.

Some may not know that you were of course born in Hong Kong China, which is home to many talented players on the WWS Tour.

With the World Championship set to be played in Dongguan Changping for at least the next two years, we could see you make the trip to play in our showpiece event for the first time…

I am definitely looking forward to that next year! I’m planning out my travel now to make sure to fit that in. I hope to do other stops in the future as well such as in the UK and make it a vacation.

Do you have any particular role models or heroes in the sport, male or female?

I don’t think I have any particular one, I like to watch whatever I get access to and I’m not particularly biased to any single one.

If I had to pick some people that I look up to, they’re probably people that I’ve had personal interactions with and enjoyed it such as On Yee.

What do you like to do when not playing snooker?

I love eating good food. Looking for good restaurants or good recipes is always enjoyable. Other than that, chilling with my two cats and playing videogames (or watching my fiancé play games that I’m too bad at).

And we also know that you have a big day coming up…

Yes! I am getting married in September 2024 so that’s exciting. Granted, the wedding is basically just a glorified food party cause we both love eating good food 😉

Finally, what would you say to women and girls thinking about giving snooker a go for the first time?

Definitely give it a shot! Snooker is definitely a hard game but the joy from making a single ball is so worth it.

I also like to say cuesports in general helps with my work life as well because it taught me how to fake confidence!

We thank Frances for her time and we look forward to seeing her back in action on the Tour soon!