Women's snooker Connie Gough

[snookerdad]

RONNIE O’Sullivan’s cousin Maria Catalano will be bidding for a fourth straight Connie Gough National Championship when the women’s snooker circuit descends on Luton on Saturday.

The 27-year-old from Dudley joins a 23-strong field at Rileys, in Leagrave Road, for the World Ladies Billiards & Snooker Association’s fifth ranking event of the season.

Catalano defeated world number one Reanne Evans 3-2 in last year’s final.

She said: “I love winning this tournament, especially as it’s a memorial tournament for Julie’s (Hemingway) mum. It’s a little bit more special than all the others, apart from the World Championships.”

The great Kelly Fisher, now the Women’s Professional Billiards Association’s 9-ball pool champion in the US, won the Connie Gough in five successive years, from 1999 to 2003.

Four-time world champion Evans, who partners Catalano in the European Team Championships in St Petersburg, Russia, on March 18, claimed the Connie Gough title in 2004.

Catalano has five WLBSA titles to her name. This season she has appeared in three finals, each time losing to Evans.

SR Cues Ltd are donating a £395 Majestic Rosemary A cue to the winner.

Swindon schoolgirl Jodie Symes, 14, makes her WLBSA tour debut after being awarded a scholarship.

The £600 Connie Gough National Championship is the fifth of six WLBSA ranking events this season. Cambridge Snooker Centre hosts the World Championships in April. Evans will be bidding for a record fifth straight world title.

Tim Dunkley (WLBSA press office)

[snookerdad]

‘Shattered’ Evans stutters to 16th title

WORLD number one Reanne Evans stuttered to victory in the Connie Gough National Championship to claim a 16th title on the World Ladies Billiards & Snooker Association circuit (on Saturday, March 7).

The 23-year-old mother-of-one from Dudley defeated Katie Henrick 3-1 in a late-night final at Rileys, Luton,

Evans, who uncharacteristically dropped frames in every match, pocketed the £300 top prize and a £395 Majestic Rosemary A cue donated by SR Cues Ltd.

“I’m shattered,” said the four-time world champion. “It’s been a long day.

In the early rounds, Evans dropped a frame against Stacey Hancock (Burgess Hill) and Chris Sharpe (Chelmsford).

And in the semi-finals she was forced to battle back from 2-0 down to beat Portsmouth’s Emma Bonney 3-2.

Evans said: “I didn’t see a ball in the first frame. Emma was playing really well. I don’t thing she missed a long pot.”

Her only other Connie Gough victory was in 2004.

Maria Catalano posted the tournament’s highest break of 84 in a 3-0 quarter-final victory over Eva Palmius (Isleham, Cambs).

However, the world number four’s bid for a fourth straight Connie Gough title ended in a 3-0 semi-final defeat by Henrick (Bickley, Kent).

Catalano, Ronnie O’Sullivan’s 27-year-old cousin, partners Evans in the European Team Championships in St Petersburg, Russia, on March 18.

Naomi Clare (Ripley, Derbys) clinched a first junior title on the final black against debutante Jodie Symes (Swindon).

Former England international Marianne Williams (Smallfield, Surrey) claimed the Seniors event and Tina Owen-Sevilton (Taunton) won the plate trophy.

The £600 Connie Gough National Championship at Rileys, Leagrave Rd, Luton, was the fifth of six WLBSA ranking events this season. Cambridge Snooker Centre hosts the World Championships in April. Evans will be bidding for a record fifth straight world title.

RESULTS (breaks):

LAST 32: Tina Owen-Sevilton bt Hannah Jones 3-1, Gaye Jones bt Mary Hawkes 3-1, Marianne Williams bt Supanni Yam Oum 3-0, Jan Hughes bt Jodie Symes 3-1, Vicky Ashby bt Maureen Logan 3-0, Joanne Davies bt Naomi Clare 3-1, Stacey Hancock bt Laura Alves 3-0.

LAST 16: Maria Catalano (52) bt Owen-Sevilton 3-1, Eva Palmius bt Martina Lumsden 3-1, Jenny Poulter bt G Jones 3-0, Katie Henrick bt Williams 3-1, June Banks (40) bt Hughes 3-0, Emma Bonney (36, 32, 34) bt Ashby (38) 3-0, Chris Sharpe bt Davies 3-2, Reanne Evans (41, 46) bt Hancock 3-1.

QUARTER-FINALS: Catalano (84) bt Palmius 3-0, Henrick bt Poulter 3-2, Bonney bt Banks 3-2, Evans (57) bt Sharpe 3-1.

SEMI-FINALS (£75): Henrick bt Catalano 3-0, Evans (33, 32) bt Bonney (37, 37) 3-2.

FINAL (£300/£150): Evans (40) bt Henrick (43) 3-1.

PLATE:

LAST 16: Gaye Jones bt Joanne Davies 2-0, Jan Hughes bt Stacey Hancock 2-0, Laura Alves bt Supanni Yam Oum 2-0, Jodie Symes bt Mary Hawkes 2-0, Tina Owen-Sevilton bt Maureen Logan 2-0, Martina Lumsden bt Hannah Jones 2-0, Vicky Ashby bt Naomi Clare 2-0.

QUARTER-FINALS: G Jones bt Hughes 2-0, Alves bt Symes 2-0, Owen-Sevilton bt Lumsden 2-0, Ashby bt Williams 2-0.

SEMI-FINALS: G Jones bt Alves 2-0, Owen-Sevilton bt Ashby 2-0.

FINAL: Owen-Sevilton bt G Jones 2-0.

SENIORS:

QUARTER-FINALS: Martina Lumsden bt Mary Hawkes 1-0, Eva Palmius bt Supanni Yam Oum 1-0.

SEMI-FINALS: Lumsden bt Logan 1-0, Marianne Williams bt Palmius 1-0.

FINAL: Williams bt Lumsden 2-1.

JUNIORS:

SEMI-FINALS: Naomi Clare bt Joanne Davies 1-0, Jodie Symes bt Hannah Jones 1-0.

FINAL: Clare bt Symes 1-0.

Tim Dunkley (WLBSA press office)

[KeithinFrance]

Thanks for all that, it's interesting to know what's going on in women's snooker.