2022 World Women's Snooker Championship

The 2022 World Women's Snooker Championship was a women's snooker tournament that took place at the Ding Junhui Snooker Academy in Sheffield, England from 11 to 14 February 2022.^[1] It was the first staging of the World Women's Snooker Championship since 2019, following an 18-month suspension of the World Women's Snooker Tour between March 2020 and August 2021, due to the COVID-19 pandemic.^[2] In addition to receiving the newly renamed Mandy Fisher Trophy, the winner of the tournament earned a place on the professional World Snooker Tour from the start of the 2022–23 snooker season.^[3]

2022 World Women's Snooker Championship

Tournament information
Dates	11–14 February 2022 (2022-02-11 – 2022-02-14)
Venue	Ding Junhui Snooker Academy
City	Sheffield
Country	England
Organisation	World Women's Snooker
Format	Round Robin for qualifying groups, Single elimination
Total prize fund	£17,200
Winner's share	£6,000
Highest break	Ng On Yee (HKG) (97)
Final
Champion	Nutcharut Wongharuthai (THA)
Runner-up	Wendy Jans (BEL)
Score	6–5
← 2019 2023 →

Reanne Evans was the defending champion, having defeated Nutcharut Wongharuthai 6–3 in the 2019 final to win her 12th women's world title.^[4] However, Evans lost 1–4 to Wendy Jans in the quarter-finals, the first time in her career that she had not reached the semi-finals of the tournament.^[5] Three-time champion Ng On-yee came from 0–3 behind in her quarter-final against Wongharuthai to force a deciding frame, but Wongharuthai won the match 4–3 on the final black.^[5][6] The quarter-final losses by Evans and Ng meant that no former champion reached the semi-finals.^[7]

Wongharuthai won the tournament, defeating Wendy Jans 6–5 in the final. She became the first Thai player to win the women's world title, the 13th different winner of the tournament since its inception in 1976, the first new champion since 2015, and the only player besides Evans or Ng to win the title in 19 years.^[8] She gained a two-year professional tour card, allowing her to join the World Snooker Tour from the beginning of the following season.^[9] Upon her return to Thailand, she was granted an audience with the country's prime minister Prayut Chan o-cha, and its Minister for Tourism and Sports Pipat Ratchakitprakarn.^[10]

Prize fund

The breakdown of prize money for the event is shown below:^[11]

• Winner: £6,000
• Runner-up: £2,500
• Semi-final: £1,250
• Quarter-final: £600
• Last 16: £300
• Preliminary Round : £150
• Highest break: £200
• Total: £17,200

Final summary

Nutcharut Wongharuthai won her first women's world title

The final, contested as the best of 11 frames between Thai player Nutcharut Wongharuthai and Belgian player Wendy Jans, lasted five hours and 40 minutes.^[12] Although Wongharuthai took an initial 2–1 lead, Jans then won four of the next five frames to lead 5–3, also contributing the final's highest break of 84 in the fourth frame.^[9] Wongharuthai later stated: "When I was 5–3 behind I thought that I had lost, and I really just started to play for fun because I was too tense. Luckily, it worked."^[13] Wongharuthai won the next two frames to level the scores at 5–5. Requiring a snooker in the decider with only the colours remaining, Jans potted the yellow and green before obtaining four foul points when Wongharuthai failed to escape from a snooker on the brown.^[14] Jans then potted the brown, blue, and pink, but missed a long black into the yellow pocket, leaving it over the middle.^[12] Wongharuthai potted the black to clinch the title.^[15]

Results

Main draw

	Round 1 Best of 7 frames					Round 2 Best of 7 frames					Quarter-finals Best of 7 frames					Semi-finals Best of 9 frames					Final Best of 11 frames
						Reanne Evans (1)		4
	Miina Tani		4			Miina Tani		0
											Reanne Evans (1)		1
	Jan Hughes (23)		0
											Wendy Jans (12)		4
						Laura Evans (7)		1
	Laura Evans (7)		4			Wendy Jans (12)		4
																Wendy Jans (12)		5
	Pooja Galundia		2
																Jamie Hunter (22)		2
						Ploychompoo Laokiatphong (10)		3
	Mariia Shevchenko		2			Anja Vandenbussche		4
											Anja Vandenbussche		0
	Anja Vandenbussche		4
											Jamie Hunter (22)		4
						Jamie Hunter (22)		4
	Jamie Hunter (22)		4			Suzie Terry (8)		1
																					Wendy Jans (12)		5
	Harriet Haynes (19)		0
																					Nutcharut Wongharuthai (3)		6
						Rebecca Kenna (4)		4
	Stephanie Daughtery (9)		3			Tessa Davidson		3
											Rebecca Kenna (4)		4
	Tessa Davidson		4
											Emma Parker (6)		2
						Emma Parker (6)		4
	Emma Parker (6)		4			Dalia Alska		0
																Rebecca Kenna (4)		1
	Jasmine Bolsover		1
																Nutcharut Wongharuthai (3)		5
						Maria Catalano (5)		2
	Lesley Roberts		0			Nutcharut Wongharuthai (3)		4
											Nutcharut Wongharuthai (3)		4
	Nutcharut Wongharuthai (3)		4
											Ng On Yee (2)		3
						Mary Talbot-Deegan (24)		2
	Zoe Killington (17)		0			Ng On Yee (2)		4
	Mary Talbot-Deegan (24)		4

Players listed in bold indicate match winners.

Final

Final: Best of 11 frames. Referee: John Pellew Ding Junhui Snooker Academy, Sheffield, England. 14 February 2022
Wendy Jans (12)			5–6			Nutcharut Wongharuthai (3)
Frame	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11
Wendy Jans 30+ Breaks	40 -	72 (31)	46 -	84 (84)	69 -	71 -	39 -	74 (30, 39)	18 –	13 -	53 -
Nutcharut Wongharuthai 30+ Breaks	51 -	38 -	60 -	4 -	44 -	32 -	67 -	15 -	69 -	81 (32)	65 (30)
Frames won (Jans first)	0–1	1–1	1–2	2–2	3–2	4–2	4–3	5–3	5–4	5–5	5–6
84			Highest break			32
1			50+ breaks			0
3			30+ breaks			2
Nutcharut Wongharuthai wins the 2022 World Women's Snooker Championship

Source: WPBSA Tournament Manager.^[16]