As a former world-ranked snooker player myself, I was recently amused to discover that the current U.S. Women’s Professional Pool Tour is being dominated by ex-snooker playing British pros. There are several British women playing 9-ball pool out there at the moment, including - as far as I’m aware - Allison Fisher, Karen Corr, Kelly Fisher, Kim Shaw, Sarah Ellerby and Julie Kelly. It’s true that after playing snooker, a pool table is about the size of a postage stamp. But you’d still think the Americans would triumph over British players simply by virtue of being on their own territory, playing their own game.
The British ex-snooker players – Allison Fisher in particular, aka the Duchess of Doom – seem to have been taking home the big purses from most of the official U.S. pool tournaments over the past few years, with many of the finals televised and backed by big-name sponsors. They're also making money on the side with highly lucrative exhibition matches, personal coaching and sponsorship deals, while the unfortunate American girls struggle to compete with those snooker-honed cue actions.
Perhaps I should drop the writing and fly out there, start hustling ...
No comments:
Post a Comment