New 2022 Interview: Women Snooker’s Saint Tessa…

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TESSA DAVIDSON is one of a few female snooker players who has returned to the World Women’s Snooker Tour since its growing popularity and rise in tournaments in the last couple of years since the Pandemic.

The 53-year-old who practices snooker in Banbury has had much success since returning, including last weekend scooping the Eden Masters Seniors event in Coulsdon as well as being the only player to make a fantastic century at Frames Sports Bar in the event.

Tessa Davidson (right) has already picked up silverware this year…

SnookerZone caught up with Tessa, to gain a brief insight into her career and her thoughts on how the WWST compares from now to back when she was playing years ago.

Like many in the booming 80’s of the game, Davidson was introduced to the game by her father, who was a coach and she got the bug for it, as well as seeing him managing the Richmond Snooker Club.

She added: “We used to stay with him in the school holidays and played snooker 24/7. It was a great era to come into the game as a kid!

Her first experience of hearing of the World Women’s Tour back then was when she saw a poster in one of the clubs in London, sponsored by a coach company she thinks, and she then decided to enter her first competition.

She recounts; “The standard back then was very good, with century breaks being made regularly. Strong entries and a tournament a month. Mostly in the UK, but some European tournaments were held, and we played the Women’s World Championship in India a couple of times, which was a great experience. “

That was the era of the likes of Allison Fisher, Kelly Fisher, and a few other heavyweights of the women’s game.

“Now it’s much more global. There are more players from more countries. The conditions are much better with pro balls and usually some star tables to play on. There’s less women’s tournaments overall now I think. The top girls now are really pushing the boundaries of what was achieved before, which is great to see.

There are plenty of younger generations of players in the game looking to take on the mantle of the top current players like Reanne Evans, the 12-times World Champion. The women’s game is in a healthy place, but more needs to be done.

That century in the Eden Masters by Tessa Davidson…

Davidson makes tons in practice, but she said: “It was very special making a century on my return to the game and marked the end of a brilliant comeback year beyond what I could have imagined. Developing my coaching has been very rewarding too. I make century breaks in practice at my club Fast Eddie’s now and before I held the world record for a woman of 135.

She made that in the 1991 British Open.

She told SnookerZone that she gets FREE table time sponsored by the club.

Davidson said the women’s game is starting to really blossom again after the pandemic.

She added: It’s exciting to be a part of. Prize money is still very low at most tournaments, making it a personal financial commitment for most of the women players. The standard without question warrants better financial rewards. We need more sponsorship to enable our game to grow more than it is at present and encourage a larger number of players to play full time.

At the Eden Women’s Masters, there were a record number of entries, just shy of 50, the highest since the 1990s, according to WWST.

Davidson is helping to grow the game at her club by putting on kids’ events and coaching youngsters.

” I’ve been proud to be able to promote the game in any small way!”

She has some useful advice for those newcomers, particularly young girls, coming into the game.

“Practice makes perfect!

Try to play as many matches as possible. Get a good coach to look you over to make sure you have a good grounding and technique enabling you to progress and improve, giving maximum enjoyment!

Davidson says her match-play knowledge of snooker has always been her biggest strength and she has been working on her break-building since returning to the tour. The work is paying off with making centuries in events like the Eden Women’s Masters.

She hopes the Tour will get even better in the next five years…

“Yes, I’d like to think it will continue to grow, which I’m sure it will. I’d like to see more sponsorship in the game and more women players full-time and able to play for a career.”

Finally, Tessa Davidson has a holy connection indeed, and something people may not have been aware of…

She said: “I was christened in St Paul’s Cathedral lol”

Women’s snooker in 2023…

Next year, the WWST heads off in January to Belgium, and is an exciting prospect for a wide range of players in the game.

There is plenty to look forward to for women’s snooker in 2023 as the tour slowly continues to grow in stature and, with the addition of female pro tickets, can only help to spark interest in the women’s game.

2022 has been a huge success for the likes of Mink Nutcharut winning the World Women’s Championship and scooping a World Ranking event with Neil Robertson.

What a year it’s been for the Thai player Mink Nutcharut!

There’s also been new successful returns from younger players such as Jasmine Bolsover of Woking, who not only reached a quarter-final but also debuted on TV in the Snooker Legends 900 earlier this year, as the women’s game continues to grow in diversity.