Evans, with 12, is by far the most successful women’s player of all time while Ng has three world crowns and is also a former world number one. Evans prompted the text exchange before Ng told the Englishwoman of her reaction when informed by her coach Wayne Griffiths.

“What a surprise after a year without traveling and much practice,” Ng tweeted on Tuesday. “I was in the kitchen cooking when my coach called … Almost burnt my dinner.

“This is an absolute dream come true and hopefully I can learn and get the most out of this remarkable opportunity.”

Governing body, the World Professional Billiards and Snooker Association, said the move to give players from the World Women’s Tour a pathway into the main pro circuit was part its commitment to expand opportunities for snooker players around the world.

The decision was backed by other players on the women’s tour, with world No 4 Rebecca Kenna – who won the Hong Kong Masters title in 2019 – saying she hoped Ng and Evans can inspire young girls to play snooker.

“I’m really pleased for Reanne and On-yee. It’s fantastic for the women’s game,” Kenna told the Post. “Now the world will have a chance to see women compete on TV and this should help increase female participation in snooker.

“Given that there are no women on the pro tour a lot of people think it’s because women can’t play or we aren’t allowed to compete because there is a dedicated women’s tour. But this isn’t the case, young girls need to see this is a sport you can become professional in.

“So this is fantastic news and hopefully we can level out the ratios of male-female participation, which will in turn see the quality of women’s snooker improve and get more women qualifying for the main tour.”

Germany’s veteran player Diana Schuler, who is a World Women’s Snooker board member, said it was perfect that the Monday announcement was made on International Women’s Day.

“It is great to see this reward for our hard work in helping to grow the WWS tour in recent years and that female players now have a real pathway to become professional tour players,” Schuler, the world No 12, told the Post.

“I am sure that this will inspire a lot of women and girls around the globe to pick up a cue and follow their dreams – now they see it is achievable.”

WWS president and the doyen of women’s snooker, Mandy Fisher, said in a statement on Monday: “World Women’s Snooker celebrates its 40th anniversary later this year and I can honestly say that today’s announcement marks one of the most significant days in our history so far.

“With the support of [chairman] Jason Ferguson and the WPBSA, we have taken significant strides in recent seasons and for our tour and most importantly our players to be recognised in this way represents a huge moment for women in snooker.”

Ferguson added: “For many years we have championed the role of women in our sport, from offering opportunities for our women to compete at major professional events, to our development of the WPBSA’s World Women’s Snooker Tour.

“We firmly believe that there is no reason why a woman cannot compete equally with a man and today’s announcement underlines our commitment to women’s snooker both now and in the future.”