Reanne Evans takes one giant leap for womankind in sport today when snooker’s nine-time ladies’ world champion attempts to shock the men at the big-money Wuxi Classic in China
After a career littered with setbacks, including opposition to her mere presence in some snooker clubs near her Dudley home, because of her gender, Reanne Evans has had to tolerate another blow as she prepares for her debut at the highest level.
She was due to face Neil Robertson, the 2010 world champion, in the first round, but instead Evans has been shunted back into a wild-card round showdown with Chinese teenager Zhu Yinghui early this morning for the right to take on Robertson.
Evans has the ability to win through to face the Australian, but pressure will be weighing heavily on the 27-year-old’s shoulders.
“I’ve been told how big snooker is out there, and how there’s a lot of women players and people know about me. I heard that once there was a big picture of me on the side of a building, and I was like, ‘Right, okay. What the hell!’. It was definitely odd,” Evans told Press Association Sport.
“I’ve just got to try to relax and enjoy the moment, which is going to be really hard.
“There is a lot of pressure. I do put pressure on myself and maybe that’s why I go into tournaments a little too nervous.
“When I was on tour a couple of years ago, I couldn’t win a match. Your confidence starts to go and you think to yourself, ‘Can I really do this?’.”
Evans now believes she can achieve in the male-dominated sport. She is the first woman since Allison Fisher to make an impact in the professional game, and Fisher has been off the scene since the early 1990s, after choosing a lucrative career in pool in the United States.
At her career peak in pool, Fisher has brought in a six-figure income, a fact that lurks in the back of mind of Evans, who won £400 for landing her latest world title in April.
“It’s good for her and her profile’s amazing. I think, ‘Why can’t I have a little bit of that?’” Evans said.
“But then when she went to America she had no little girl to look after. I’ve never really played pool anyway.
“I love snooker and it’s all I’ve ever done and all I’ve ever known.”
Lauren is Evans’ daughter with her former partner Mark Allen, the world number six. She recently turned seven, but has had to stay at home while her mother has travelled to China.
“She’s my lucky charm and I wish I could take her everywhere,” Evans said.
“She knows what I’ve got to do and how it’s my job, but she does get upset when I leave her, which upsets me too.”
Many of the men on tour have youngsters at home, but Evans said: “It’s a little bit different for women. We’re just a bit more sensitive to leaving children behind I think.”
This is Evans’ first visit to China, surprisingly so given the growth of snooker’s popularity in the country.
It could be the week that transforms her career, or over almost as soon as it begins.
“I just hope we can get people noticing women in snooker and build up the profile,” she said. “I know it’s not going to happen overnight but it needs to get moving.
“I won £1,500 for my first world title but only £400 this year. It’s gradually got worse and worse. It’s not going to be just about myself in China.”