Reanne Evans
   HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

Reanne Evans (born 25 October 1985) is an English professional
snooker Snooker (pronounced , ) is a cue sport played on a rectangular Billiard table#Snooker and English billiards tables, billiards table covered with a green cloth called baize, with six Billiard table#Pockets 2, pockets: one at each corner and ...
player and regular
pundit A pundit is a person who offers opinion in an authoritative manner on a particular subject area (typically politics, the social sciences, technology or sport), usually through the mass media. The term pundit describes both women and men, altho ...
on televised snooker broadcasts. Widely recognised as the most successful female player in the sport's history, she has won the
World Women's Snooker Championship The World Women's Snooker Championship (known as the Women's World Open from 1976 Women's World Open (snooker), 1976 to 1981 Women's World Open (snooker), 1981 and the World Ladies Snooker Championship from 1983 Women's World Snooker Championsh ...
a record 12 times and is the reigning World Mixed Doubles champion (with Luca Brecel). She received an MBE in the
2020 Birthday Honours The Queen's Birthday Honours for 2020 are appointments by some of the 16 Commonwealth realms of Queen Elizabeth II to various orders and honours to reward and highlight good works by citizens of those countries. The Birthday Honours are awarded ...
for her services to women's snooker. Born in
Dudley Dudley ( , ) is a market town in the West Midlands, England, southeast of Wolverhampton and northwest of Birmingham. Historically part of Worcestershire, the town is the administrative centre of the Metropolitan Borough of Dudley. In the ...
, West Midlands, Evans began playing snooker at age 13. She competed in her first World Women's Snooker Championship in
2002 The effects of the September 11 attacks of the previous year had a significant impact on the affairs of 2002. The war on terror was a major political focus. Without settled international law, several nations engaged in anti-terror operation ...
, aged 16, when she reached the semi-finals. She won the women's world title a record 10 consecutive times between 2005 and 2014 and added further women's world titles in 2016 and 2019. Her other records on the women's tour include 12 UK Women's Snooker Championships, 58 ranking titles, and 90 consecutive victories between 2008 and 2011. She has achieved the highest break on the women's tour, having made 140 twice. Granted a wildcard to the professional
World Snooker Tour The World Snooker Tour (WST) is the main professional snooker tour, consisting of about 128 players competing on a circuit of up to 28 tournaments each season. It is administered by World Snooker Ltd, the commercial arm of professional snooker, ...
for the 2010–11 season, she became the first woman to compete professionally since Allison Fisher 16 years previously but was relegated at the end of the season after 18 consecutive defeats. In 2013, she qualified for the Wuxi Classic as an amateur competitor, becoming the first woman to reach the final stages of a professional ranking snooker tournament. Granted wildcards to the
World Snooker Championship The World Snooker Championship, or simply known as the World Championship, is the longest-running and most prestigious tournament in professional snooker. It is also the richest event to date with a total prize money of £2,395,000, including ...
qualifying rounds in 2015 and from 2017 to 2021, she reached the second qualifying round in 2017 by defeating Finnish player Robin Hull 10–8. On
International Women's Day International Women's Day (IWD) is celebrated on 8 March, commemorating women's fight for equality and liberation along with the women's rights movement. International Women's Day gives focus to issues such as gender equality, reproductive righ ...
in 2021, the World Snooker Tour announced that the two top-ranked players on the women's tour—then Evans and
Ng On-yee Ng On-yee (; born 17 November 1990) is a Hong Kong professional snooker player who has won three IBSF World Snooker Championships and three World Women's Snooker Championship, World Women's Snooker world championships. She held the number one ...
—would receive two-year professional tour cards to begin in the 2021–22 season. Evans's only victory during her first two years on the professional tour came when she defeated
Stuart Bingham Stuart Bingham (born 21 May 1976) is an English professional snooker player who is a former World Champion and Masters winner. Bingham won the 1996 World Amateur Championship but enjoyed little sustained success in the early part of his pro ...
in the last 128 of the 2023 Snooker Shoot Out, becoming the first woman to win a televised match at a ranking event. Despite being relegated from the professional tour at the end of the 2022–23 season, she ended the season as the women's world number one, which secured her a new two-year professional tour card for the 2023–24 and 2024–25 seasons. At the 2024 English Open, Evans faced Mink Nutcharut, the first time two women had played each other in a professional match. Following her defeat in the
2025 World Snooker Championship The 2025 World Snooker Championship (officially the 2025 Halo World Snooker Championship) was a professional snooker tournament that took place from 19 April to 5 May 2025 at the Crucible Theatre in Sheffield, England, the 49th consec ...
qualifiers, Evans lost her professional tour card, but she was subsequently awarded a new tour card for the following two seasons as one of the two eligible players from the women's tour.


Early life and women's snooker


Early life

Born on 25 October 1985, in
Dudley Dudley ( , ) is a market town in the West Midlands, England, southeast of Wolverhampton and northwest of Birmingham. Historically part of Worcestershire, the town is the administrative centre of the Metropolitan Borough of Dudley. In the ...
, West Midlands, Reanne Evans was educated at Bishop Milner Catholic School, Dudley. Her parents and two older brothers all played snooker, and she began playing herself at age 13.


World Ladies' Billiards and Snooker/World Women's Snooker

Evans competed in her first
World Women's Snooker Championship The World Women's Snooker Championship (known as the Women's World Open from 1976 Women's World Open (snooker), 1976 to 1981 Women's World Open (snooker), 1981 and the World Ladies Snooker Championship from 1983 Women's World Snooker Championsh ...
in
2002 The effects of the September 11 attacks of the previous year had a significant impact on the affairs of 2002. The war on terror was a major political focus. Without settled international law, several nations engaged in anti-terror operation ...
, aged 16. She defeated third seed Lynette Horsburgh 4–3 in the quarter-finals but lost 0–4 to eventual champion Kelly Fisher in the semi-finals. She won her first ranking tournament, the Connie Gough Memorial Championship, in 2004. This was the only women's ranking event held in the 2003–04 season. Evans won her first world championship in
2005 2005 was designated as the International Year for Sport and Physical Education and the International Year of Microcredit. The beginning of 2005 also marked the end of the International Decade of the World's Indigenous Peoples, Internationa ...
with a 6–4 victory over Horsburgh in the final, which featured one frame that was replayed because of a problem with the scoring. She retained the title in
2006 2006 was designated as the International Year of Deserts and Desertification. Events January * January 1– 4 – Russia temporarily cuts shipment of natural gas to Ukraine during a price dispute. * January 12 – A stampede during t ...
, just six weeks before she was due to give birth, defeating Emma Bonney 5–3 in the final. She also won the 2006
WLBSA 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 ...
mixed doubles title, partnering with Mark Allen to defeat Sonia Chapman and Matthew Couch 3–0 in the final. In the 2007 world final, Evans was level 3–3 with Kate Henrick before winning the next two frames to claim her third successive title. Evans made the highest of the
2008 2008 was designated as: *International Year of Languages *International Year of Planet Earth *International Year of the Potato *International Year of Sanitation The Great Recession, a worldwide recession which began in 2007, continued throu ...
tournament, 102, and won 5–2 against June Banks in the final. Evans defeated Maria Catalano in four of the next five world championship finals, including a 5–2 win in
2009 2009 was designated as the International Year of Astronomy by the United Nations to coincide with the 400th anniversary of Galileo Galilei's first known astronomical studies with a telescope and the publication of Astronomia Nova by Joha ...
, and a 5–1 margin in
2010 The year saw a multitude of natural and environmental disasters such as the 2010 Haiti earthquake, the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, and the 2010 Chile earthquake. The 2009 swine flu pandemic, swine flu pandemic which began the previous year ...
. A 5–1 victory against Emma Bonney in the
2011 The year marked the start of a Arab Spring, series of protests and revolutions throughout the Arab world advocating for democracy, reform, and economic recovery, later leading to the depositions of world leaders in Tunisia, Egypt, and Yemen ...
final was Evans's 88th consecutive match win in women's snooker events. Catalano and Evans were level at 2–2 in the
2012 2012 was designated as: *International Year of Cooperatives *International Year of Sustainable Energy for All Events January *January 4 – The Cicada 3301 internet hunt begins. * January 12 – Peaceful protests begin in the R ...
final before Evans went on to win 5–3. In the final against Catalano in
2013 2013 was the first year since 1987 to contain four unique digits (a span of 26 years). 2013 was designated as: *International Year of Water Cooperation *International Year of Quinoa Events January * January 5 – 2013 Craig, Alask ...
, Evans compiled two
century break In snooker, a century break (also century, sometimes called a ton) is a of 100 points or more, compiled in one to the table. A century break requires potting at least 25 consecutive balls, and the ability to score centuries is regarded as a m ...
s during the match, including a 117, the highest of the tournament, and won 6–3. She won her tenth consecutive title in
2014 The year 2014 was marked by the surge of the Western African Ebola epidemic, West African Ebola epidemic, which began in 2013, becoming the List of Ebola outbreaks, most widespread outbreak of the Ebola, Ebola virus in human history, resul ...
with a 6–0 defeat of
Ng On-yee Ng On-yee (; born 17 November 1990) is a Hong Kong professional snooker player who has won three IBSF World Snooker Championships and three World Women's Snooker Championship, World Women's Snooker world championships. She held the number one ...
in the final. In the semi-finals of the 2015 championship, Ng and Evans were level at 2–2, before Ng went on to win 4–2. The pair faced each other again in the
2016 2016 was designated as: * International Year of Pulses by the sixty-eighth session of the United Nations General Assembly. * International Year of Global Understanding (IYGU) by the International Council for Science (ICSU), the Internationa ...
final, when Evans won the first frame, before Ng took the next three. Ng led 4–3 before Evans won three frames in a row to take the match 6–4 for her eleventh world championship win. In
2017 2017 was designated as the International Year of Sustainable Tourism for Development by the United Nations General Assembly. Events January * January 1 – Istanbul nightclub shooting: A gunman dressed as Santa Claus opens fire at the ...
, Ng eliminated Evans 5–4 in the semi-finals. Evans lost again in the
2018 Events January * January 1 – Bulgaria takes over the Presidency of the Council of the European Union, after the Estonian presidency. * January 4 – SPLM-IO rebels loyal to Chan Garang Lual start a raid against Juba, capital of ...
semi-finals, after Catalano defeated her 5–4. Evans won the 2019 Women's Tour Championship, held at the
Crucible Theatre The Crucible Theatre, or simply The Crucible, is a theatre in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England, which opened in 1971. Its name refers to crucible steel, which was developed in Sheffield in 1740 and drove the industrialisation of the city. ...
, defeating Mink Nutcharut in the semi-finals and Ng in the final. She claimed her twelfth world title in
2019 This was the year in which the first known human case of COVID-19 was documented, preceding COVID-19 pandemic, the pandemic which was declared by the World Health Organization the following year. Up to that point, 2019 had been described as ...
, with a 6–3 win in the final against Mink. She was awarded an MBE in the
2020 Birthday Honours The Queen's Birthday Honours for 2020 are appointments by some of the 16 Commonwealth realms of Queen Elizabeth II to various orders and honours to reward and highlight good works by citizens of those countries. The Birthday Honours are awarded ...
for her services to women's snooker. In September 2021, following an 18-month suspension of the Women's Snooker Tour due to the
COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...
, Evans won the 2021 UK Women's Championship, defeating Rebecca Kenna 4–0 in the final. In November 2021, she was runner-up to Ng in the Eden Women's Masters, losing the final 3–4 after having led 3–1. In January 2022, she lost 3–4 to Mink in the final of the British Women's Open. At the 2022 World Championship, Evans was the defending champion, but she lost 1–4 to Belgian player Wendy Jans in the quarter-finals, the first time she had not reached at least the semi-finals of the tournament. She retained her number one place in the women's world rankings at the end of the 2021–22 season, although Ng and Mink closed the gap in ranking points. After the 2023 Asia-Pacific Women's Championship, Mink replaced Evans as world number one. Evans lost in the semi-finals of the 2023 World Championship to 19-year-old Chinese tour debutant Bai Yulu, who recovered from 1–3 behind to clinch a 5–3 victory. Bai again eliminated Evans 5–3 in the semi-finals of the 2024 event, taking five consecutive frames after Evans had established a 3–0 lead. Widely recognised most successful female player in the sport's history, with her ten consecutive Women's Snooker Championship titles from 2005 to 2014, and further titles in 2016 and 2019 for a total of 12 women's world titles, Evans surpassed Allison Fisher's previous record of seven. Evans has also won a record 12 UK Women's Snooker Championships, and recorded the highest break on the women's tour (140 twice). Prior to her loss to Maria Catalano at the 2011 Northern Classic, she won a record 90 consecutive women's snooker matches.


Other international competitions


International Billiards and Snooker Federation

Evans won the IBSF Women's Snooker Championship in 2004, 2007, and 2008, with Wendy Jans the losing finalist on each occasion. She did not travel to the 2009 championship in
Hyderabad Hyderabad is the capital and largest city of the Indian state of Telangana. It occupies on the Deccan Plateau along the banks of the Musi River (India), Musi River, in the northern part of Southern India. With an average altitude of , much ...
to defend her title as the cost of travelling would have been more than the prize money she could have earned.


European Billiards and Snooker Association

Evans reached the final of the Women's
EBSA European Snooker Championship The EBSA European Snooker Championship is the premier amateur snooker tournament in Europe. The event series is sanctioned by the European Billiards and Snooker Association. It first took place in 1988 and has been held annually since 1993. In most ...
in 2004, but lost 3–5 to Jans. In 2007 she won the title by defeating Jans 5–2 in the final, and retained it in 2008 with a 5–3 victory against Emma Bonney.


World Snooker Tour

After winning 61 consecutive women's matches and defeating reigning world champion
John Higgins John Higgins (born 18 May 1975) is a Scottish professional snooker player from Wishaw in North Lanarkshire. Since turning professional in 1992, he has won 33 ranking titles, placing him in third position on the List of snooker players by num ...
4–3 at the
2009 Six-red World Championship The 2009 Six-red World Championship (styled the 888sport.com 6Red World Championship, among other spellings, for sponsorship and marketing purposes) was a six-red snooker tournament that took place between 14 and 18 December 2009 at the INEC in ...
, Evans was awarded a wildcard on the professional tour for the 2010–11 season, enabling her to enter all ranking events at the qualifying stage. This made her the first woman to play on the main tour since Allison Fisher in 1994–95. Evans failed to win a match throughout her season on the tour, suffering 18 consecutive defeats. She entered Q-School, but was unable to qualify for the main tour in the 2011–12 season. In the 2012–13 season, Evans won enough Q-School matches to earn a "top-up" place in the qualifying rounds for the 2013 Wuxi Classic, competing as an amateur. In her qualifying match, she defeated Thepchaiya Un-Nooh 5–4 to become the first woman to reach the final stages of a ranking snooker tournament. Originally scheduled to play world number two
Neil Robertson Neil Alexander Robertson (born 11 February 1982) is an Australian professional snooker player, who is a former List of World Snooker Championship winners, world champion and former List of world number one snooker players, world number one. He ...
in the last 64, she then became one of four players selected to play an extra wildcard round against local Chinese opponents. She lost 2–5 to Chinese teenager Zhu Yinghui in the wildcard round. In March 2015, Evans was awarded a place in the qualifying rounds of the 2015 World Snooker Championship. She lost her opening match 8–10 to 1997 world champion
Ken Doherty Kenneth Joseph Doherty (born 17 September 1969) is an Irish professional snooker player who also works as a commentator and pundit on televised snooker broadcasts. From Ranelagh in Dublin, he is the sport's only World Snooker Championship, wor ...
. In the qualifying rounds for the 2017 World Snooker Championship, Evans defeated Robin Hull 10–8 in the first round, calling the victory the best of her career to that point. She lost 6–10 to Lee Walker in the second round of qualifying. In the next four world championships, she exited in the first qualifying round each year, losing 7–10 to Dominic Dale in
2018 Events January * January 1 – Bulgaria takes over the Presidency of the Council of the European Union, after the Estonian presidency. * January 4 – SPLM-IO rebels loyal to Chan Garang Lual start a raid against Juba, capital of ...
, 2–10 to Zhang Yong in
2019 This was the year in which the first known human case of COVID-19 was documented, preceding COVID-19 pandemic, the pandemic which was declared by the World Health Organization the following year. Up to that point, 2019 had been described as ...
, and to Andy Hicks by 3–6 in
2020 The year 2020 was heavily defined by the COVID-19 pandemic, which led to global Social impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, social and Economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, economic disruption, mass cancellations and postponements of even ...
and 2–6 in
2021 Like the year 2020, 2021 was also heavily defined by the COVID-19 pandemic, due to the emergence of multiple Variants of SARS-CoV-2, COVID-19 variants. The major global rollout of COVID-19 vaccines, which began at the end of 2020, continued ...
. At the 2019 Champion of Champions, Evans became the first female player to compete in the event. She lost 3–4 to
Shaun Murphy Shaun Peter Murphy (born 10 August 1982) is an English professional snooker player who won the 2005 World Snooker Championship, 2005 World Championship and has completed the Triple Crown (snooker), Triple Crown. Nicknamed "The Magician", Murp ...
in the first round, after coming back from 0–3 down to force a deciding frame. On
International Women's Day International Women's Day (IWD) is celebrated on 8 March, commemorating women's fight for equality and liberation along with the women's rights movement. International Women's Day gives focus to issues such as gender equality, reproductive righ ...
in 2021, World Snooker announced that Evans and
Ng On-yee Ng On-yee (; born 17 November 1990) is a Hong Kong professional snooker player who has won three IBSF World Snooker Championships and three World Women's Snooker Championship, World Women's Snooker world championships. She held the number one ...
, the top-two players in the women's world rankings, would receive two-year invitational tour cards to commence in the 2021–22 snooker season. In the second ranking event of the season, the British Open, Evans was drawn in the first round against Mark Allen, her former partner and father of her daughter, with whom she had a strained relationship following a dispute over
child support Child support (or child maintenance) is an ongoing, periodic payment made by a parent for the financial benefit of a child (state or parent, caregiver, guardian) following the end of a marriage or other similar relationship. Child maintenance is ...
. Evans refused Allen's offer of a handshake before the match began. She took a 2–1 lead and led 60–22 in the fourth frame, but Allen came back to win 3–2. Evans did not win any matches during her season on the tour, which ended with a 2–6 defeat to Lee Walker in the first round of qualifying for the 2022 World Snooker Championship. Following her loss to Walker, Evans posted on social media that the "last year or so has been tough on and off hetable" but that she was "working on it". She later revealed that she had experienced an intermittent lack of sensation in her arm while playing, and tremors on one side of her body, which affected her play. At the end of the 2021–22 season, Evans was entered into the Snooker Hall of Fame, along with Allison Fisher, for "outstanding contributions to the growth of snooker". Evans's only victory during her two years on tour came at the 2023 Snooker Shoot Out (2022–23 season), when she defeated
Stuart Bingham Stuart Bingham (born 21 May 1976) is an English professional snooker player who is a former World Champion and Masters winner. Bingham won the 1996 World Amateur Championship but enjoyed little sustained success in the early part of his pro ...
by 60 points to 8 in their one-frame encounter in the last-128 round, becoming the first woman to win a televised match at a ranking event. After losing in the first qualifying round of the
2023 World Snooker Championship The 2023 World Snooker Championship (officially the 2023 Cazoo World Snooker Championship) was a professional snooker tournament that took place from 15 April to 1 May 2023 at the Crucible Theatre in Sheffield, England, the 47th con ...
, Evans ended the season ranked 126th in the
snooker world rankings The snooker world rankings are the official system of ranking professional snooker players to determine their qualification and seeding for events on the World Snooker Tour and other tournaments, as well as their future professional status on th ...
and was relegated from the professional tour. However, she was runner-up in the 2023 British Women's Open the following month, which enabled her to end the season ranked number one in the
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 ...
rankings. This secured her a new two-year professional tour card to begin in the 2023–24 season. In her qualifying group at the 2023 Championship League, Evans defeated
Jimmy White James Warren White (born 2 May 1962) is an English professional snooker player who has won ten ranking events. Nicknamed "The Whirlwind" because of his swift and attacking style of play, White has reached six World Snooker Championship finals ...
3–1 and drew 2–2 with Xu Si, but having lost 0–3 to
Judd Trump Judd Trump (born 20 August 1989) is an English professional snooker player who is a former List of World Snooker Championship winners, world champion and the current List of world number one snooker players, world number one. He is currently in ...
, she missed out on progressing to the next stage. She defeated Jenson Kendrick 5–4 in the qualifying round of the 2023 European Masters, and then lost 1–5 to David Gilbert in the first round. She did not win any other matches on the main tour in the 2023–24 season, although two of her other matches in qualifying rounds went to a deciding frame, as she lost 5–6 to Ryan Thomerson at the 2023 UK Championship, and 4–5 to
Tian Pengfei Tian Pengfei (; born 16 August 1987) is a Chinese former professional snooker player. He began his career by playing the Challenge Tour in 2004, at the time the second-level professional tour. Tian played on the Main Tour in 2006 and competed o ...
at the 2024 German Masters. At the 2024 World Mixed Doubles, Evans and teammate Luca Brecel defeated
Mark Selby Mark Anthony Selby (born 19 June 1983) is an English professional snooker player. Ranked List of world number one snooker players, world number one on multiple occasions, he has won a total of 24 ranking titles, placing him eighth on the all ...
and Rebecca Kenna 4–2 in the final, winning the event for the first time. On 12 September 2024, Evans lost to Mink Nutcharut 4–2 in the first round at the English Open in the first match between two female players on the professional World Snooker Tour. Following her 4–10 defeat to Antoni Kowalski in the
2025 World Snooker Championship The 2025 World Snooker Championship (officially the 2025 Halo World Snooker Championship) was a professional snooker tournament that took place from 19 April to 5 May 2025 at the Crucible Theatre in Sheffield, England, the 49th consec ...
qualifiers, Evans lost her professional tour card. However, she was awarded a new two-year tour card for the following two seasons as one of the two eligible female players following the 2025 World Women's Snooker Championship.


Personal life

Evans was in a relationship with
Northern Irish The people of Northern Ireland are all people born in Northern Ireland and having, at the time of their birth, at least one parent who is a British Nationality Law, British citizen, an Irish nationality law, Irish citizen or is otherwis ...
professional snooker player Mark Allen from 2005 to 2008. They share a daughter, Lauren Sophie Allen, who was born at Russells Hall Hospital, Dudley, in May 2006 when both players were 20 years old. The end of Evans and Allen's relationship was reported as acrimonious and led to legal disputes over child maintenance payments. In 2022, Allen stated that he no longer saw his then 16-year-old daughter Lauren, but said "I still think about her all the time". Evans has been critical of the low prize money in women's snooker, stating that she earned £450 for winning one of her women's world titles. In 2015, at age 29, Evans, then a 10-time women's world champion, was still living in her parents' home with her daughter because she could not afford to move out.


Performance and rankings timeline


World Snooker Tour


World Women's Snooker


Career finals


Women's finals: 92 (76 titles)

{{DEFAULTSORT:Evans, Reanne English snooker players 1985 births Living people Female snooker players Sportspeople from Dudley Members of the Order of the British Empire