World Snooker and WPBSA will stage Ladies Day for the first time during the Betfair World Championship.

It will take place on Friday April 26 at the Crucible with the intention to get more women involved in snooker.

 

The day will also aim to raise money for World Snooker’s official charity Bluebell Wood Children’s Hospice. There will be a ‘purple’ theme – using the colour of Bluebell Wood’s logo – with well known snooker personalities such as Michaela Tabb to wear purple, and all fans are encouraged to do the same.

Purple cakes and cocktails will be on sale within the Crucible, with 50p from each sale to go to charity. There will be free coaching for women in CueZone in the Winter Garden, provided by Katie Henrick and nine-time World Ladies Champion Reanne Evans.

World Snooker will also be running online campaigns to support the day including a competition with the chance to win tickets.

WPBSA Chairman Jason Ferguson said: “We’re very keen to get more women involved with snooker, and that’s why we decided to stage Ladies Day during the World Championship for the first time.

“Snooker is one of the few sports with total fairness in terms of who can participate. Anyone can play on the World Snooker tour, regardless of age, nationality or gender. There have been some excellent lady players over the years, such as Reanne Evans, and we would love to see more ladies take our sport up.

“There’s no reason why women can’t succeed in snooker, it’s purely a matter of getting more women participating in the sport at grass roots level, and through the WPBSA’s sports development plan and the introduction of ‘Cue Zone in Schools’ we expect to see a significant increase in interest.

“That is important to us in terms of growing the sport on a global scale and it will also play its part in us achieving our aspirations in becoming an Olympic sport.

“We have some very successful female referees including Michaela Tabb and Zhu Ying, with others coming through in Europe. That’s another avenue where anyone with a passion for snooker has a career opportunity.

“Hopefully Ladies Day will capture the imagination of women and encourage them to get involved in snooker, get down to their local club, get some coaching and improve their game. There are so many opportunities now within snooker.

“So get down to Ladies Day and have a go!”