World Women’s Snooker president Mandy Fisher confident snooker’s gender gap is closing and ‘standard improving’

World Women’s Snooker president Mandy Fisher believes snooker’s gender gap is closing and hailed the incredible progress made by female players in recent years.

Fisher highlighted how the sport is becoming a much more inclusive space and explained why World Snooker Tour’s decision to offer two-year tour cards to women has been a pivotal move.

“It has brought more players to the game because they’re realising that, like [19-year-old British Open champion] Bai Yulu – she probably would have remained in China and just played from there had it not been for the fact that we were given the tour cards. So she came to the Women’s World Championship for the first time ever this year to try and win that tour card.

“So it just gives fantastic opportunities, not just for women, but for minority countries that don’t play snooker. It just builds snooker in each of those countries – for women as well as for men.”

Evans, along with Rebecca Kenna, Mink Nutcharut and Baipat Siripaporn have been offered tour cards.

And while victories over their male counterparts are still rare, Fisher is confident that this trend will gradually change.

“Yes, they haven’t won many matches. They have won frames, which is a stepping stone,” she added.

“But you have to bear in mind that they’ve never played until recent years on the Star tables.

“You can’t explain to people there is so much difference from playing on club tables, and unless you’ve got your own Star table installed, you are not going to go to a tournament and play your best because they are just so different from anything else that most people have ever played on.

“But you can see the standard improving all the time. The women have won matches, they’re not at the bottom of the ranking list and they’re doing really well.

“You’ve got to give people a chance. Whether you’re male or female, coming on the tour you’re probably going to struggle. It’s like anything, to get used to the surroundings, the environment.

“To play your best it can take players years and years. And we know that because there are players coming through now, who have been playing for 20 years and not done anything, but in these last few years they’re doing really well.”

There is still plenty of work to be done though, and the former world champion emphasised the challenges in making the sport more accessible to all.

“Most women don’t go in snooker clubs. They go in pubs, and in pubs there are pool tables. I’m not saying pool isn’t skilful, because I know it is skilful. I’m just saying that the leap from being good at pool to being good at snooker is a very difficult one to take.

“I was not able to play in all the snooker clubs, or I was the first woman ever to go and play in these clubs because you would have signs saying ‘No women allowed’, so it takes generations to get over that.

“Now there are academies and more snooker centres that make women more welcome, and you are seeing more people playing.

“It will take some time, but I just can’t see any physical reason why women should not be as good as men.”