Ewa Laurance (former surnames Svensson and Mataya Laurance, born February 26, 1964) is a Swedish professional pool player, most notably on the

Women's Professional Billiard Association The Women's Professional Billiard Association (WPBA) is a professional women's pool tour based in the United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in No ...

nine-ball Nine-ball (sometimes written 9-ball) is a discipline of the cue sport pool. The game's origins are traceable to the 1920s in the United States. It is played on a rectangular billiard table with at each of the four corners and in the middle o ...

tour, a

sports writer Sports journalism is a form of writing that reports on matters pertaining to sporting topics and competitions. Sports journalism has its roots in coverage of horse racing and boxing in the early 1800s, mainly targeted towards elites, and into t ...

, and more recently a

sports commentator In Broadcasting of sports events, sports broadcasting, a sports commentator (also known as a sports announcer or sportscaster) provides a real time (media), real-time live commentary of a game or event, traditionally delivered in the present t ...

for

ESPN ESPN (an initialism of their original name, which was the Entertainment and Sports Programming Network) is an American international basic cable sports channel owned by the Walt Disney Company (80% and operational control) and Hearst Commu ...

. In 2004, she was inducted into the

Billiard Congress of America The Billiard Congress of America (BCA) is the governing body for cue sports in the United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is ...

Hall of Fame A hall, wall, or walk of fame is a list of individuals, achievements, or other entities, usually chosen by a group of electors, to mark their excellence or Wiktionary:fame, fame in their field. In some cases, these halls of fame consist of actu ...

.Induction into BCA Hall of Fame 2004
She has been nicknamed "the Leading Lady of Billiards" and "the Striking Viking".

Playing career

Laurance has been playing pool since she was 4 years old. She moved to the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

in 1981 at 17 years old, after competing in the 1980 WPBA World Straight Pool Championship in

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

. In 1983, she became the first female European player to win a professional pool event in the

, winning the Clyde Childress 9-Ball Open. Laurance has won numerous major women's pool titles, including the

WPA World Nine-ball Championship The WPA World Nine-ball Championship is an annual professional nine-ball pool tournament contested since 1990. The championship is sanctioned by the World Pool Association (WPA) and principally sponsored and organized by Matchroom Sport, who pro ...

, WPBA U.S. Open 9-Ball Championship, WPBA National Championship, International Trick Shot Challenge and the

European Pool Championship European Pool Championship (also called Dynamic European Championships) is a pool competition organized by the European Pocket Billiard Federation (EPBF). The tournament is held annually since 1980. It should not be confused with the series of sma ...

14.1. In 2005, Laurance bested three of her peers, WPBA Tour members

Allison Fisher Allison Fisher (born 24 February 1968) is an English American professional pool and former professional snooker player. She is considered one of the greatest female snooker players & widely regarded as the greatest female pool player of all ti ...

, Dawn Hopkins, and Gerda Hofstatter, at the Women's Trick Shot Challenge held at the New York Hotel Casino in

Las Vegas Las Vegas, colloquially referred to as Vegas, is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Nevada and the county seat of Clark County. The Las Vegas Valley metropolitan area is the largest within the greater Mojave Desert, and second-l ...

Nevada Nevada ( ; ) is a landlocked state in the Western United States. It borders Oregon to the northwest, Idaho to the northeast, California to the west, Arizona to the southeast, and Utah to the east. Nevada is the seventh-most extensive, th ...

, pocketing

US$ The United States dollar (Currency symbol, symbol: Dollar sign, $; ISO 4217, currency code: USD) is the official currency of the United States and International use of the U.S. dollar, several other countries. The Coinage Act of 1792 introdu ...

25,000 as the grand prize. Animated and expressive, she played to the audience and the cameras, "a true showperson in her element and a wonderful example to all trick shot artists."

Television

She was the co-host of the GSN original game show '' Ballbreakers''. She has hosted the '' Ultimate Pool Party'' on

. She has also been a model, appearing in

TV commercials A television advertisement (also called a commercial, spot, break, advert, or ad) is a span of television programming produced and paid for by an organization. It conveys a message promoting, and aiming to market, a product, service or idea. ...

for No Nonsense brand pantyhose, and appeared on '' National Bingo Night'' on June 1, 2007. She frequently acts as a color commentator on ESPN telecasts of nine-ball tournaments, usually along with her husband Mitchell Laurance. She has recently been featured on commercials featuring Dick's Pawn Shop in Myrtle Beach, SC.

Writing

She has authored three books: ''The Ewa Mataya Pool Guide (paperback,'' ), ''The Complete Idiot's Guide to Pool & Billiards (paperback,'' ), and ''Quick Start Guide to Pocket Billiards (paperback,'' '').'' She has also written monthly columns for ''Pool & Billiard'' magazine.

Personal life

In 1982, she married the professional pool player Jimmy Mataya, forming pool's first "power couple". They later divorced, with Ewa retaining the surname Mataya, as she was already professionally well known by this name. They have a daughter, Nikki, born in 1985. In 1994, she married actor Mitch Laurance, later also pool commentator for

and twin brother of actor

Matthew Laurance Matthew Laurance is an American actor and comedian best known for starring as Ben Coleman in the Fox sitcom ''Duet'' and for his recurring role as Mel Silver on ''Beverly Hills, 90210''. Early life, family and education Matthew Dickoff was born ...

Titles and achievements

* 1981

14.1 * 1983 Clyde Childress 9-Ball Open * 1984 Clyde Childress 9-Ball Open * 1984 Midwest 9-Ball Open * 1984 Milwaukee Doubles Cup * 1985 Michigan 9-Ball Open * 1985 Midwest 9-Ball Open * 1987 Brunswick 9-Ball Team Challenge - with (

Mike Sigel Michael Sigel (born July 11, 1953) is an American professional pool player nicknamed "Captain Hook." He earned the nickname from his ability to hook his opponents with safety plays. Sigel was dominant during the 1980s in 9-Ball and Straight P ...

) * 1988 WPBA U.S. Open 9-Ball Championship * 1990 Cleveland Spring Open * 1990 East Coast 9-Ball Classic * 1990 Sands Regency 9-Ball Open * 1990 Cleveland Fall Open * 1990 Rocket City Invitational * 1990 Billiards Digest Player of the Year * 1991 WPBA U.S. Open 9-Ball Championship * 1991 WPBA National Championship * 1994 WPA World 9-Ball Championship * 1995 WPBA Houston Classic * 1998 WPBA Brunswick Boston Classic * 2004

Billiard Congress of America Hall of Fame This is the list of people inducted into the Billiard Congress of America's hall of fame to honor outstanding people who, through their competitive skills and dedication, have enriched the sport and industry. Two categories have been established in ...

* 2005 International Trick Shot Challenge * 2007 World Cup of Trick Shots * 2008 WPBA Hall of Fame * 2012 WPBA Masters

References

External links

Her official web site

"Ewa Mataya Laurance" profile
at the ''

Internet Movie Database IMDb, historically known as the Internet Movie Database, is an online database of information related to films, television series, podcasts, home videos, video games, and streaming content online – including cast, production crew and biograp ...

''
Ewa Laurance instruction column at poolmag.com
{{DEFAULTSORT:Laurance, Ewa Mataya Swedish pool players American pool players Swedish emigrants to the United States Trick shot artists 1964 births Living people Female pool players People from Gävle World champions in pool 20th-century American sportswomen Sportspeople from Gävleborg County 21st-century American sportswomen