The Three Brit Ladies With The Three C’s

It is really amazing just how similar the careers of these three Champions are. 

 

All having won World Titles from a successful career in snooker  – all rose to winning US Major events almost immediately after arriving in the USA on a one way ticket from the UK, and all winning World Titles in a relatively short time, in a discipline of pool that was not in their wheelhouse prior to arriving.

 

Initially their potting skills were immediately noticed, but they all had to learn the nuances associated with 9 Ball. Plus the initial advantage that the smaller table gave them was soon forgotten!!

 

HERE ARE THEIR STORIES

ALLISON FISHER

Allison got the toy of her choice for her 7 th birthday, a mini pool table.  By 13 was on the road to being a Snooker pro, something that Allison had always had on her wish list from an early age, At 16 she got her first century break partnered with Steve Davis.

 

Allison went on to win 9 Snooker World titles (7 individual and 2 Double) - 8 National Championships – 8 US Opens – 4 WPA 9 ball World titles – 5 Tournament of Champions titles & 54 WPBA titles 

But, first let me tell you how she was introduced to 9 ball, which up to that point had been a life dedicated to snooker.

 

Allison was picked for the first Mosconi Cup team in 1994, and at that point did not play pool (9 ball) very well, but Barry Hearn wanted top names associated with the pool world that also included Steve Davies, Jimmy White and Ralf Souquet. The Mosconi Cup was in an experimental format at that stage, and would take several twist and turns before settling on five man teams as it is today!!

 

Probably one of Allison’s first forays into American style pool was in 1991 at the Munich Masters, where she was invited along with Stacey Hillyard. They both borrowed cues and got to practice the game one day before they left!! However, even though this was not their game of choice Stacy came 1st and Allison came 3rd.

 

During an exhibition in Switzerland with Ronnie O’Sullivan (he was around 13 at the time), Mike Massey, Ewa and Vickie Paski for a snooker/pool challenge. Mike told her about the WPBA Tour in the states, but Allison said: “At that time I wasn’t really thinking about it”.

 

The final straw that broke the snooker stars back came in 1995, when Allison was in the last 8 of the World Snooker Championship in India. The conditions were awful and she turned to her mother who had made the trip with her, and said “This is the last time that I will play snooker”.

 

Yes, she had lost her desire and motivation in a sport that had earned her 11 World Snooker titles and yet she had no sponsors. Plus winning a snooker event could only reap you $500, which only paid the expenses!!

When Allison told her mother that she wanted to move to the States, her mum was shocked, but even she realized there was no future in staying and pursuing a career that showed no reward!!

 

Allison had also started what would become a long term relationship with Cuetec prior to leaving England, and said: “I guess they predicted what would happen”.

 

So in July 1995 Allison took a trip to Las Vegas to visit the trade show to find out how to get on WPBA tour and introduce herself to the pool World. Allison was given two promoter spots for her first two events.

Allison recalls: “I entered the first one in September 1995 in Charlotte, NC. I loved it from the first moment I stepped in the door. It was new and exciting, a big adventure.  I finished 9th losing to Ewa and Jeanette but learned a lot. The next event was a week later in Florida. Kelly Oyama and her family invited me to stay with them in Charlotte for the week and drive down to Florida with a few players. I remember it being Loree Jon Jones, Gerda Hofstatter, Robin Dodson, Kelly and myself. I ended up winning the event!  It was incredible. I gave myself 6 months and won in two weeks”. 

 

Allison then finished 3rd in the World Championships (Taiwan) and then back to the US to win the National title at the Bicycle Club in Los Angeles. She said: “That was my most emotional event ever because my dad flew over for it. I’ll never forget that. I won $20,000, the most I had ever won and paid off any debts I had in England”. The rest is history!!!

 

Allison made such a dramatic entrance into the American and World pool scene,  that the Duchess of Doom caused nothing but gloom for her fellow players for the next ten years.

 

Allison who is still at the top of her game to this day, was inducted into the BCA Hall of Fame in 2009, and is unquestionably a living legend on and off the table!!

 

Allison is also looking to lift her game even higher, following the announcement of her new sponsorship deal with OB Cues!!

 

We do not have room here to list Allison’s titles and awards, so if you have a couple of days to spare go to her web site: allisonfisher.com

 

KAREN CORR

Karen was born in the little town of Ballymoney in Northern Ireland in 1969. When she was 8 years old the family moved to England, and at the age of 14 years old her love of watching snooker on TV prompted her father to join a local snooker club for himself, Karen and her brother to play.

 

It took Karen no time at all to show her potential at snooker, entering her first event in the nearby city of Leicester at 15 years old and never looked back. As she soon became one of the top players in the UK.

 

In 1990 just one day after her 21st birthday she won her first women’s World Snooker Championship, held in London, repeating again in 1991, 1995 and 1996. Karen also won two World English Billiards Championships.

However, in the mid nineties with the restrictions on Tobacco advertising and sponsorship, the effect was devastating in the prize fund department, and caused Karen to look elsewhere to make a living from pool.

Julie Kelly a friend and fellow snooker player told Karen about the WPBA Tour in the States, prompting a four week vacation in the States to check it all out. Arriving in June 1998 Karen had to immediately play in a qualifier to get into the next WPBA event. Well the rest is history, winning the qualifier and finishing around 9th in her first event.  

 

Now it was back to England to put her affairs in order and one month later saw Karen back in the States embarking on what would be a fairy tale story of success.

 

On returning to the States Karen had to qualify for the next ten WPBA events, and did so successfully and by the end of 1998 was ranked 24th. By the end of 1999 she was ranked No 4 and by the end of 2000 she was ranked No 2 in the world (Big thank you Julie Kelly).

 

Karen won her first WPBA title in 2000, plus another two WPBA events before the end of 2000. She also won the Japan Open Championship in Osaka in 2000, plus 2nd place in the WPA Women’s Championship and 2nd in the UCC World Ladies Championship in Tokyo.

 

In 2001 Karen remarkably won every one of the WPBA events to be held that year. Plus Silver medal at the World games. By the end of 2001 Karen was ranked No 1 in the World, a position she held for the next two years.

Karen has won a total of 23 WPBA Titles!!!  Plus three consecutive Challenge of Champions events in 2006, 2007 and 2008

 

On October 26th 2012 Karen was inducted into the prestigious BCA Hall of Fame. The only title that has eluded Karen is the World 9 Ball Championship.  (Amazingly finishing  2nd on six occasions!!)

 

Unfortunately Karen’s life was turned upside down in July 2011 when she was told that her mother was very ill with cancer. Karen left immediately to take care of her mum in England and subsequently did not play pool for 12 months.

 

Sadly Karen’s mother passed away in June 2012, and after a few weeks Karen returned to Feasterville, PA, to find that she has lost all her invites to the upcoming World Championships because her ranking  had dropped significantly because of her time away from competitive pool.

 

There is some light at the end of the tunnel. Karen has received an invite to the Guilin World 9 Ball Championship in SW China in October 14 – 18th 2014. Plus Karen has been invited to the Challenge of Champions event to be held at Harrah’s Hotel and Casino in San Diego on October 8th 2014.

 

I asked Karen what she would like to see to put pool back on the map. She said that it was imperative to get pool back on TV, as it is the best way to give the game respectability and put it in the public eye!!

 

Karen is presently looking for sponsors to enable her to get to the qualifiers in China.

 

KELLY FISHER

Kelly Fisher was born in England, and was playing on a mini pool table at home when she was three years old. Her father ran a pub, which had a pool table in it. But, during her earlier years Kelly was too small to play on it. However, when Kelly was thirteen her father let her play on the pub table, where he immediately saw something that prompted him to take his talented daughter to the local snooker club.

 

While Kelly was playing at the club on that first visit, her father asked if there was anybody locally that could coach his daughter. “See that gentleman sitting at the counter eating his lunch” said the house man. “He would be the man to talk too!!”

 

When approached the man said “she looks a little too short to be playing on that big table!!” He suggested they come back when she was a bit taller.

 

 The coach could not control his curiosity, and walked over to watch the kid make ball after ball. The father asked the man what he thought of her game, and he said “I think we should start the coaching immediately”

Well that relationship is still as strong now as it was that day 23 years ago!!  Yes, Lional Payne the snooker coach from Yorkshire  that thought the future 6 times World Snooker  Champion, and 2 times English Billiards Champion was not tall enough is still Kelly’s coach to this day!!!

 

Unfortunately because of a knock on effect from the earlier loss of sponsorship of the tobacco companies, that by the end of the nineties the financial rewards were looking pretty bleak on the Pro snooker scene. 

 

In May 2001 Kelly, while on vacation in the States, Kelly hooked up with fellow player and good friend Kim Shaw. Which led to Kelly getting to play in a WPBA qualifier, where she realized that she was competitive, even though she had a lot to learn at that stage. 

 

After the World Snooker Championship at the Crucible in Sheffield in 2003, it looked like the tournament schedule had dwindled to a point where positive action was needed to find her earnings from another source!!

Kelly even resorted to getting a regular job. (She did not like that option though!!) But money was tight at that point in her career.

 

So in February 2004 she put her house up for sale, and Kelly and her partner Val Finnie packed two suitcases each, and left for the States with $750 ($400 borrowed from mum and dad), even leaving the washing up in the sink!!! 

 

Kelly immediately picked up the art of playing 9 Ball, and soon worked her way up the rankings on the WPBA Tour, winning her first WPBA event in May 2005 “The San Diego West Coast Classic”

 

To illustrate just how quickly Kelly picked up the US style of pool. Kelly’s 1st WPBA event was the Canadian Classic, and she drew Allison Fisher in the first round, and had Allison 8-1 in a race ti 9 and surprisingly went on to lose to the Duchess of Doom 8-9!!! In her second event after her arrival she made it to the semi final of the US Open. 

 

Kelly’s first World title came in 2011, winning the World 10 Ball Title, followed by the World 9 Ball Title in 2012 and the China Open in 2012. In 2013 Kelly also won the Amway Cup. 

 

In December 2012 Kelly decided to move back to England. Kelly who had suffered heart palpitations unknowingly due to a birth defect all her life, was diagnosed in March 2014 with a hole in her heart that required open heart surgery. Thankfully the hole was repaired along with one of her valves. 

 

The surgery was carried out in Glasgow, Scotland, on the 22nd July 2014 was a success and Kelly is working hard with her therapy schedule and is taking it day by day. Her goal has been to get fit for the upcoming events and Kelly is sure hoping to do just that!!!

 

Kelly will be visiting the States for the Challenge of Champions to be held at Harrah’s in San Diego on October 8th 2014. Three of the four players invited to the event, just happen to be the three featured in this article. The other player is Ga Young Kim!!

 

This event will be televised and aired around four weeks after the event. So look for it on ESPN.

 

Immediately after the above event all four players will travel on to play in the 9 ball World Championship in Guilin, China. October 14th to 18th 2014 

 

I’m sure that you will all join me in wishing Kelly a speedy recovery and let’s look forward to seeing her back on a World Title podium in the not too distant future!!!