Ladies Day Returns to Sheffield

The fourth annual Ladies Day will take place in Sheffield at the Winter Garden on the 26th April 2016 during the Betfred World Snooker Championship.

First introduced by World Snooker’s governing body the WPBSA in 2013, the initiative aims to encourage women to participate in snooker, as players, fans or officials.

Run by WPBSA World Snooker coach Andrew Highfield, activities will include a coaching masterclass, snooker relay event, a trick shot challenge and special doubles competitions featuring world ladies players and members of the public.

There will also be a 60 second challenge event involving girls who currently participate in the WPBSA’s Cue Zone into Schools programme, with coaching from female players on site.

Women of all ages are encouraged to come along and receive coaching, whether they are snooker novices or experienced players.

“It is great that World Snooker is again supporting World Ladies Billiards and Snooker (WLBS) by staging Ladies Day at the World Championship for a fourth time,” said WLBS director and former ladies world champion Mandy Fisher.

“It is a great opportunity for the general public to see WLBS players in action and for them to see the high level of women’s snooker first hand,” continued Fisher. “We will have a great mixture of nationalities on display on the day and we will be engaging the public to play alongside the WLBS players in various sessions throughout the day.

“These are exciting times as ladies snooker begins its journey under the governance of the WPBSA and we have been working hard on plans for the future. We hope with more exposure we receive from days like Ladies Day, along with support from the WPBSA and World Snooker that WLBS can reach and appeal to a new generation of female snooker players.

“It is also great to be able to support such a great charity as Bluebell Wood Hospice on the day and I encourage everyone to come down and have some fun on the day either watching WLBS players in action or playing alongside them in the Cue Zone area whilst supporting a great cause at the same time.”

WPBSA Chairman Jason Ferguson added: “We are one of the few sports that allows both male and female players to compete on an equal basis. As a sport that is about technique, skill, concentration, hard work and discipline, we operate a world snooker open tour, irrespective of where people come from. Ladies Day is about recognising that and getting that message across.

“We have engaged now formally with the WLBS as an organisation to encourage and increase participation in ladies snooker. We have seen through our Cue Zone into Schools programme that there is a real will from girls to take up the sport. Not everybody wants to play football or tennis or the regular sports that are being played in schools and we want to offer another opportunity to all.

“Ladies day is a celebration and we hope year on year to be able to bring more news about how more and more women have got involved in snooker.”

The event will also raise money for World Snooker’s official charity, Bluebell Wood Children’s Hospice in Rotherham. Fans are encouraged to wear purple, the colour of Bluebell Wood’s logo, and a selection of cakes will be on sale with money from every sale going to the hospice.

The following 10 WLBS players will be in action on Ladies Day:

Reanne Evans, 11times World Champion (England)

Jessica Woods, Oceanian Champion 2016 (Australia)

Kathy Howden (Australia)

Irina Gorbataya (Russia)

Sandra Bryan (Ireland)

Tatjana Vasiljeva (Latvia)

Diana Schuler (Germany)

Vicky Shirley (England)

Suzie Opacic (England)

Jodie Allen (England)

Michelle Brown (England)