Women in Pool – The Best 9 Players of All Time
Thanks to the WPBA (Women’s Professional Billiard Association), the popularity of women’s pool has grown rapidly over the years. Nowadays, if you search for the best female pool players ever, many names will pop up.
This topic is certainly subjective, based on what you consider “successful,” but there are a handful of names that stand above all others when it comes to women’s pool.
It’s not an easy task, but we’ve gathered a list of the top 9 women to ever play the game:
- Allison Fisher
- Kelly Fisher
- Chen Siming
- Jeanette Lee
- Jennifer Barretta
- Karen Corr
- Ga-young Kim
- Pan Xiaoting
- Loree Jon Jones
We’ll cover some of the most interesting facts and key moments of their careers, and how they got where they are now.
1. Allison Fisher
Allison Fisher, born in England, was one of the best snooker players in the world between 1985 and 1994. She won 7 World Snooker Championships in just 10 seasons. Allison basically just got bored of beating everyone, literally, and decided to transition to pool. A smooth transition it was, and in 1996, Allison Fisher won her first WPA World 9-Ball Championship.
In the next 2 years she won 2 more WPA World 9-Ball Championships and the fourth one in 2001. Allison has claimed more World 9-Ball Championship titles than any other female player ever. From 1996 to 2001, Allison Fisher, also known as “The Duchess Of Doom,” was the top ranked player on the WPBA circuit.
2. Kelly Fisher
Kelly is also a professional snooker and pool player from England. But there is no relation between Allison and Kelly. From 1998 to 2000, Kelly won 3 Ladies World Snooker Championships. In 2001, Kelly won 4 more tournaments in ladies divisions – Belgian Open, British Open, UK Championship, and LG Cup.
She also won the Ladies World Snooker Championships again in 2002 and 2003. Kelly Fisher, also called “KwikFire,” moved to the US to play on the WPBA Tour and by 2008, she was the world’s top ranked pool player. Just 4 years later, in 2012, Kelly won her first World 9-Ball Championship.
3. Chen Siming
A Chinese professional pool player, Chen Siming is known for winning the World 9-Ball Championship back in 2017. Some of the players from this list discovered pool later in their lives, but Chen Siming has been playing pool ever since she was 8 years old.
This fact is no surprise, considering she grew up in a family that owned a pool hall in Heilongjiang. When she was just 12, she won both the 9-ball and 8-ball divisions of the CNYC (Chinese National Youth Championships). 3 years later, she started learning from a new coach, Wu Jia-Qing, a two-time world champion. In 2010, she won the China Open Championship by defeating Allison Fisher.
Over the years, she has claimed other pool titles like the World Chinese 8-Ball Championship and the All Japan 9-Ball Championship. She has also won the AZbilliards Player of the Year Award twice (2017 and 2019.
4. Jeanette Lee
Jeanette Lee, also called “The Black Widow”, began her career in 1989 and rose to the top of the WPBA World Rankings in the 90s. Even though she became the world’s top female player in that period, she never won the WPA World 9-Ball Championship. However, Lee did finish as the runner-up three times – in 1993, 1994, and 1996.
Lee continued lighting up the sport throughout the 2000s and enjoyed her success, winning many events such as the Empress Cup, China Invitational Championship, and Atlanta Women’s Open. Jeanette Lee also won the gold medal for the US at the World Games in Akita back in 2001.
In 2013, she was inducted into the BCA Hall of Fame, officially confirming her as one of the best women’s players ever.
5. Jennifer Barretta
After long days of practice and a lot of coaching, Jennifer became the Player of the Year on the Chesapeake Area Tour back in 2003. This event was what earned her the “Touring Pro” status, allowing her to participate in various professional events that year.
However, it wasn’t until December 2004 when she proved to be more than just a good looking pool player when she defeated the top player in a match televised on ESPN.
In 2006, at the Empress Cup in South Korea, Jennifer won her first international title. She is currently number 7 on the WPBA tour and competes in various men’s tournaments as well. Today, we still know Barretta as one of the best female players in the sport.
6. Karen Corr
Before becoming one of the greatest pool players in history, Karen Corr was among the best female snooker players in the world. She was only 15 when she entered her first tournament in Leicester and she hasn’t looked back since. With a lot of practice and family support, Karen quickly became a top-tier female snooker player.
Just one day after her 21st birthday, Karen won her first Word Snooker Championship. Not only did she win that championship two more times in 1995 and 1997, but she also won the World Women’s Billiards Championship two years in a row – in 1998 and 1999. After that, she moved to the United States and started her career in pool.
In just about a year, she was ranked #2 in the world. Karen Corr was also the first person ever to win every single event of the WPBA Classic Tour in just one season. In 2012, Karen was inducted into the BCA Hall of Fame.
7. Ga-young Kim
Over the years, Kim, also known as the “Little Devil Girl”, has claimed a lot of medals for her country. While representing South Korea, Kim secured two bronze, five silver, and one gold medal at high-profile events including East Asian Games, The World Games, and Asian Games.
She started learning to play 3-cushion billiards from her father when she was only 12 years old. Kim has been professionally active since 2003 andher first big triumph came at the US Open Pool Championship in 2004. She claimed the championship title 3 more times after that in 2009, 2010 and 2016.
8. Pan Xiaoting
Nicknamed “The Queen Of 9-Ball”, this Chinese superstar has won many tournaments over the years. Her first major title was when she won the All Japan Championship back in 2002. She won the same event again in 2005 and 2008, making her the woman with the most All Japan Championship titles ever.
However, Pan’s biggest achievement was when she claimed a 11-5 victory over Rubilen Amit, securing her World 9-Ball Championship crown. What’s more, the 7-time World Snooker Champion, Ronnie O’Sullivan, lost to Pan in 2013. He also suffered one more defeat from Pan in 2018.
9. Loree Jon Jones
Loree Jon Jones started playing pool at her home in New Jersey when she was just 4 years old. John Ogonowski, her father, recognized the talent she had and started teaching her the sport. Nicknamed “Queen of the Hill”, she became a WPBA pro player when she was only 11.
About 4 years later, at the age of 15, Loree Jon Jones claimed the World 9-Ball Championship title. Not a single player, female or male, had won a world championship at that age. In her lifetime, Loree won many tournaments including US Open Straight Pool Championship, 3 WPBA National Championships, US Open 9-Ball Championship, and the All Japan Championship.
Back in 2002, she was inducted into the BCA Hall of Fame and WPBA Hall of Fame, holding over 50 major titles. She was also recognized as the “Player of the Year” 5 times in her career.
Wrap Up
These are not the only female pool players to make it big, but are definitely some of the best ones ever. It’s generally accepted that Allison Fisher is the best female player to ever play pool. But after her, you can make legitimate cases for many of the women on this list.
Feel free to let us know who you think is the best women’s pool player ever. And as always, Happy Shooting!