11-year-old Russian snooker sensation youngest to win a match at the women’s world championship
- Ksenia Zhukova confidently overcomes Malaysia’s Tan Shok Shea while her teammate Aleksandra Riabinina, 13, comes close
- Hong Kong’s defending champion Ng On-yee and England’s Reanna Evans off to strong starts in Bangkok
The Russians are coming; they are frighteningly young, ambitious, ruthless and one of them just made history.
Ksenia Zhukova, 11, became the youngest player to win a match at the women’s World Snooker Championship when she scored a resounding 3-0 group 12 victory over Malaysia’s Tan Shok Shea at the Hi-End Snooker Club in Bangkok, Thailand.
Earlier, her teammate Aleksandra Riabinina, 13, came within a black of beating England’s Steph Daughtery, losing 3-2 in group 8.
“I was a little nervous,” said Zhukova shyly after her win, hiding behind her coach Anderei Vill. “I didn’t think about my age when I was playing.”
There is no age limit on the women’s circuit, which boasts a number of players in their teens. St Petersburg native Zhukova, however, who has been playing since she was six years old after being introduced to the game by her mother, is by far the youngest.