Evans Set For Professional Debut

Reanne Evans will become the first woman to compete on snooker's professional tour for 15 years when she plays in the Star Xing Pai Players Tour Championship on Saturday.

The six-times World Ladies Champion from Dudley makes her debut against China's former Crucible qualifier Liu Chuang in the second event of the PTC series at the World Snooker Academy in Sheffield. She will be the first woman on the main circuit since Alison Fisher in 1994/95.

Evans, 24, was handed a wild card to the professional tour earlier this year, following her outstanding achievements on the ladies' circuit, winning her last 61 consecutive matches.
"It's going to be the biggest challenge of my career as the standard will be really high," she said. "I'm going to try my best and just enjoy it – whatever happens it will be a steep learning curve for me.

"It's so hard to stay on the Tour, but that's what I'm hoping for. I'm practising with a few different pro players to get as ready as I can. Being on the Tour has given me the incentive to push myself as hard as I can."

Evans, who won the 2006 World Ladies title when seven months pregnant with daughter Lauren, showed her quality with a 4-3 victory over John Higgins at last year's Six-Red World Championship in Ireland, making a 50 break in the deciding frame.

PTC event two starts today and runs until Sunday, with the likes of Shaun Murphy, Mark Williams, Ali Carter, Mark Selby, Stephen Maguire and Jimmy White in the field.