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.
Meysan Amini, an Iranian who owns a snooker club in Pattaya and is hosting the Russian team, said the two youngsters are only the tip of the iceberg.
“Russia has plenty of quality snooker players and they are ready to make it big on the world circuit, men and women,” Amini told the South China Morning Post.
“The two girls are here only for experience, they are not even the best in Russia and they are not expecting results. But even so, they managed to win one match and nearly win the other.”
Waif-like and expressionless, the Russian pair are raising eyebrows. Riabinina showed a ruthless side in her match against Daughtery. Trailing by more than 30 points and needing snookers, she leaned stoically against the wall asking her opponent to play a foul shot repeatedly, at least a dozen times, until she felt comfortable enough to win the frame.
She came close to winning the match but missed a long black into the corner before the experienced Daughtery nailed a brilliant pot to take the match.
“Riabinina practises four hours a day and Zhukova five hours a day,” said Amini. “The Russian snooker federation wants its players to make an impact on the professional circuit just like China’s men’s players have.”
Hong Kong’s Ng On-yee, the three-time world champion, made a strong start to the defence of her title with 3-0 victories over Thailand’s Panchaya Channoi and India’s Pooja Galundia in group 1.
England’s Reanna Evans, the 11-time world champion and world number one, also breezed through her opening group 2 matches, beating Iran’s Zeinab Shahi and Thailand’s Thitaporn Nakkaew 3-0.
