WLBSA - East Anglian Champion Catalano Targets World Title

Maria Catalano believes “every snooker player’s dream” is now a real possibility after the confidence boost of victory in the women’s East Anglian Championship. A 3-0 win over Kent ’s Katie Henrick in the final at Pot Black Sports Bar, Bury St Edmunds, handed Catalano her second title this season.

Referee Steve Markham & Maria Catalano

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The win took Catalano to the top spot in the World Ladies Billiards & Snooker Association (WLBSA) rankings at the expense of seven-time world champion Reanne Evans, who was preparing for the Players Tour Championship event in Sheffield.

Catalano said: “I managed to get another one under my belt.

“Katie didn’t really perform like she can. I didn’t play too bad and potted solidly. I’m just happy to win, really.”

The 29-year-old from Dudley, West Midlands , who also claimed the Northern Championship in September, insisted her priority is an elusive first world championship title.

“It’s every snooker player’s dream,” she said. “I feel more up for it now. One of the biggest things is confidence. Obviously, winning two tournaments has given me a big boost.

“I’m a little bit more consistent. My B game is stronger now than it used to be. And when I play well I can make the breaks as well. If it all comes together, yes, I fancy beating anyone, to be honest.”

Catalano was forced to battle for every point in her quarter-final match against Portsmouth ’s Emma Bonney. She fought back from 2-1 down to prevail 3-2.

“That was a good match,” she declared. “The decider was a tight one and I managed to nick it on the black. I was pleased with that one as well. It could’ve gone either way.”

While Catalano was accounting for Vicky Carter, from Stevenage , 3-0 in the semi-finals, former world champion Karen Corr’s bid for a first WLBSA final for 12 years ended in a 3-1 defeat by Henrick.

Catalano said it was a “nice surprise” to see Corr, who plays on the US pool circuit.

“It’s always great to see one of the old veterans come back,” she laughed. “She still knows how to play.”

Catalano, who said she’d “never say never” to following Corr across the Atlantic , dedicated her seventh WLBSA title to her poorly nan Gladys.

“This one’s for her,” she said. “And I hope she gets well soon.”

Corr constructed the day’s highest break of 78 in a 3-0 last-16 win over former England international Marianne Williams.

Hampshire’s Suzie Opacic beat two-time European pool champion Kim O’Brien 2-0 to clinch the Plate trophy. Eva Palmius accounted for Jan Hughes 2-0 to claim an all-Cambridgeshire Seniors’ title. And Derby schoolgirl Hannah Jones, 15, defeated Somerset ’s Tina Owen-Sevilton 2-1 in the Shield final.

The East Anglian Championship was the third of six WLBSA ranking events this season. The Pot Black Sports Bar will again host the World Championships in April.

Maria Catalano

RESULTS (BREAKS)

PRELIM: Chris Sharpe beat Natascha Niermann 3-1.

LAST-16: Sharpe beat Fran Calvert 3-1, Katie Henrick beat Suzie Opacic 3-1, Tina Owen-Sevilton beat Jan Hughes 3-0, Karen Corr (78, 42, 40) beat Marianne Williams 3-0, Emma Bonney (35, 34) beat Jenny Poulter (32) 3-2, Maria Catalano beat Kim O’Brien 3-0, Hannah Jones (36) beat Gaye Jones 3-0, Vicky Carter beat Eva Palmius (30) 3-1.   

QUARTER-FINALS: Henrick beat Sharpe 3-1, Corr beat Owen-Sevilton 3-1, Catalano (66) beat Bonney (58) 3-2, Carter beat H Jones (39) 3-2.

SEMI-FINALS (£40): Henrick beat Corr 3-1, Catalano (38) beat Carter 3-0.

FINAL (£120/£80): Catalano beat Henrick 3-0.

SENIORS (40+)

FINAL: Eva Palmius beat Jan Hughes 2-0.

PLATE

QUARTER-FINALS: Kim O’Brien beat Jan Hughes 2-0, Jenny Poulter beat Gaye Jones 2-1, Marianne Williams beat Eva Palmius 2-0, Suzie Opacic bye.

SEMI-FINALS: O’Brien beat Poulter 2-1, Opacic beat Williams 2-0.

FINAL (£15/£10): Opacic beat O’Brien 2-0.

SHIELD (UNDER-40)

FINAL: Hannah Jones beat Tina Owen-Sevilton 2-1.

UPDATED WLBSA RANKINGS