Evans Wins 11th UK Crown
Reanne Evans defeated Ng On Yee 4-3 to win the Taom UK Women’s Snooker Championship for a record-extending 11th time at the Northern Snooker Centre in Leeds.
Victory for Evans in the season-opener represents her first ranking event triumph since the same event in September 2021 and her third consecutive success at the Tour’s second most contested title. The win is her 64th ranking event title in all, moving Evans to within four of the all-time record set by Allison Fisher.
The world number one defeated Chucky Preston (3-0), Jamie Hunter (3-1) and Rebecca Kenna (4-1) to reach her 14th UK final since her debut at the event back in 2002.
Awaiting her would be long-time rival and world number two Ng On Yee, herself a four-time UK champion from just five previous appearances in the competition and looking to claim her second ranking event title of the calendar year following success at April’s Winchester Open. She dropped just one frame from six matches on her run to the final, which most notably included a 4-0 whitewash of reigning world champion Nutcharut Wongharuthai in the semi-finals.
It was the Hong Kong player who led the match three times at 1-0, 2-1 and 3-2, a match-high break of 57 in frame five taking her to within a frame of victory. Back though came Evans to force a decider, during which both would have chances with England’s Evans ultimately doing enough to prevail and end her short title drought.
Victory for Evans sees her consolidate her position at the head of the world rankings ahead of Ng, with beaten semi-finalists Nutcharut Wongharuthai and Rebecca Kenna remaining third and fourth respectively.
Side-Tournaments
For the third consecutive tournament there was a title double for Ploychompoo Laokiatphong and Tessa Davidson in the Under-21 and Seniors tournaments respectively, as the pair continued their dominance in the categories.
Victory for Laokiatphong against first-time junior finalist Chloe Payne sees the Thai player become the number one ranked player in the Under-21 rankings for the first time, with former number one Steph Daughtery having turned 21 during the summer.
For Davidson, her victory against Sarah Dunn sees the former ranking event winner retain her unblemished record on the Seniors Tour since her return to the circuit in January, with four titles from four events played so far. She will retain the top Seniors ranking ahead of second placed Jenny Poulter.
Finally, there was a first side-tournament victory for Thailand’s Siripaporn Nuanthakhamjan, who defeated Zoe Killington in the final of the Challenge Cup for players who did not qualify from the group stages. The 2019 World Cup winner claimed the single frame final with a fantastic break of 79.
World Women’s Snooker would like to thank title sponsors Taom Billiards and host venue the Northern Snooker Centre, without the support of whom the event would not have been possible.
The WWS Tour returns later this month with the inaugural staging of the US Women’s Open from Ox Billiards in Seattle. Entry remains open for the event HERE.
