The World Women's Snooker Championship (formerly known as the Women's World Open Championship from 1976 to 1981 and the World Ladies Snooker Championship from 1983 to 2018) is the leading tournament on the World Women's Snooker Tour. The reigning champion is Nutcharut Wongharuthai. Beginning in 2022, the women's world champion will automatically receive a place on the main professional

World Snooker Tour The World Snooker Tour (WST) is the main professional snooker tour, consisting of approximately 128 players competing on a circuit of up to 28 tournaments each season. The World Snooker Tour is administered by World Snooker Ltd, the commercial ar ...

. If the tournament winner already has a place on the professional tour, the next highest ranked player will receive a place.

History

The tournament began as the Women's World Open Championship, which, as the most prestigious event for female players, was effectively the world championship. The first tournament was held in

1976 Events January * January 3 – The International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights enters into force. * January 5 – The Pol Pot regime proclaims a new constitution for Democratic Kampuchea. * January 11 – The 1976 ...

, and the event was held again in 1980 and 1981. The competition was staged from 1983 onward as the World Ladies Snooker Championship. Over the next two decades, the tournament was dominated by

Allison Fisher Allison Fisher (born 24 February 1968) is an English professional pool and former professional snooker player. Biography Fisher was born on 24 February 1968 in Cheshunt and grew up in Tonbridge, Kent and lived later in Peacehaven, East Susse ...

(7 titles),

Karen Corr Karen Corr (born 10 November 1969) is a Northern Irish professional pool and former snooker and English billiards player. She was inducted in the BCA Hall of Fame in 2012. Early life Corr was born on 10 November 1969 in Ballymoney, Northern Ir ...

(3 titles), and Kelly Fisher (5 titles), all of whom eventually moved to the United States to compete on the WPBA nine-ball pool tour. From 1998 to 2003,

Embassy A diplomatic mission or foreign mission is a group of people from a state or organization present in another state to represent the sending state or organization officially in the receiving or host state. In practice, the phrase usually den ...

sponsored the tournament, with the semi-finals and final taking place at the

Crucible Theatre The Crucible Theatre (often referred to simply as "The Crucible") is a theatre in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England which opened in 1971. Although it hosts regular theatrical performances, it is best known for hosting professional snooker's ...

Sheffield Sheffield is a city in South Yorkshire, England, whose name derives from the River Sheaf which runs through it. The city serves as the administrative centre of the City of Sheffield. It is historically part of the West Riding of Yorkshire a ...

during the

World Snooker Championship The World Snooker Championship is the longest-running and most prestigious tournament in professional snooker. It is also the wealthiest, with total prize money in 2022 of £2,395,000, including £500,000 for the winner. First held in 1927, it ...

. After restrictions on tobacco advertising were introduced in 2003, the tournament lost its sponsorship and was not held in 2004. The event was revived in 2005. The most successful player since that time has been

Reanne Evans Reanne Evans (born 25 October 1985) is an English professional snooker player who competes on the World Women's Snooker Tour and the professional World Snooker Tour. She is the number one ranked player on the women's tour, and regularly featur ...

, who has won the title 12 times, including ten consecutive victories between 2005 and 2014. The 2017 championship was held in

Toa Payoh Toa Payoh (, ta, தோ பாயோ) is a planning area and matured residential town located in the northern part of the Central Region of Singapore. Toa Payoh planning area borders Bishan and Serangoon to the north, the Central Water Catc ...

, Singapore, the first time since 1995 that the tournament was held outside of the UK. In 2018, the World Ladies Billiards and Snooker Association was rebranded as World Women's Snooker, and the tournament was renamed the World Women's Snooker Championship. In 2021, the tournament trophy was renamed the

Mandy Fisher Mandy Fisher (born in April 1962) is an English former professional snooker player and a World Women's Snooker Championship winner in 1984. Fisher founded the World Ladies Billiards and Snooker Association (now known as World Women's Snooker) ...

Trophy. Fisher founded the World Ladies Billiards and Snooker Association in 1981, won the women's world title in 1984, and currently serves as president of

World Women's Snooker World Women's Snooker, founded as the World Ladies Billiards and Snooker Association (WLBSA) in 1981, and known as World Ladies Billiards and Snooker (WLBS) from 2015 to 2018, is a subsidiary company of the World Professional Billiards and Snoo ...

. The 2022 edition of the World Women’s Snooker Championships took place at the Ding Junhui Academy in Sheffield from 11 February to 14 February, the first full tournament since 2019.

Finals

Statistics by player

''Active players are shown in bold.''

Notes

References

External links

WWS website
{{Main world championships Snooker amateur competitions Recurring sporting events established in 1976 1976 establishments in England World championships in snooker Snooker