| Born | April 1962 (age 61) [1] England |
|---|---|
| Sport country |  England |
Mandy Fisher (born in April 1962) is an English former professional snooker player and a World Women's Snooker Championship winner in 1984. [lower-alpha 1] Fisher founded the World Ladies Billiards and Snooker Association (now known as World Women's Snooker) in 1981 and currently serves as the president. [2]
Fisher started playing snooker at the age of 16. [2] She founded the World Ladies Billiards and Snooker Association (WLBSA) in 1981 [3] and in addition to playing, led the administrative side of the sport in the 1980s and 1990s. [2] [4]
She was the losing finalist at the 1981 World Women's Snooker Championship. [2] In 1983 she became the first woman to reach the last 128 of the English Amateur Championship. [5] In 1984, she defeated Canadian Maryann McConnell 4–2 to win the first professional women's title. [2] In 1984, the National Express sponsored a five-month, five-tournament grand prix circuit, with a £60,000 prize fund, and which was broadcast on regional television channels. Sixteen of the top-ranked women turned professional and competed in the series. Fisher eventually won, and her winnings of £14,000 in the season took her to twelfth place – just behind three-time men's world champion John Spencer – in the professional snooker money-winners' list for the year. [3] [5]
In the 1980s Fisher featured regularly on the snooker exhibition circuit, competing with players such as Steve Davis, Jimmy White and Alex Higgins. [2] [6]
Fisher played while heavily pregnant in the early 1990s, with a midwife on standby, and later lamented that this was deemed more newsworthy than women players demonstrating their skill. [7] [8] [9] Barry Hearn, later the World Snooker chairman, forced Fisher to wear maternity clothing to mark this in front of media at London's Hyde Park. [1]
In 2011, Fisher stepped down from the World Ladies Billiards and Snooker Association [6] but took office again in 2013. [10] [11] [12]
Fisher is also a podiatry professional, working in Wisbech, Cambridgeshire. [2] [6]
| Outcome | No. | Year | Championship | Opponent | Score | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Winner | 1 | 1980 | Pontins Women's Champion | Sian Newbury | 3–2 | [5] |
| Runner-up | 2 | 1981 | Women's World Open | Vera Selby | 0–3 | [5] |
| Winner | 3 | 1984 | National Express Grand Prix | round-robin | [5] |
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Although eight-and-a-half months pregnant, she is set to play in the quarter-finals of the Forte Hotels Ladies World Championship on November 7
{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: location (link)Allison Fisher beat … Mandy Fisher 5–0 to reach the semi-finals ... yesterday. Mandy, who had a baby on Sunday...
{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: location (link)In snooker, some players have found that pregnancy can work to their advantage. Mandy Fisher, chair and founder of World Ladies Billiards and Snooker, played while heavily pregnant in the early 1990s. 'I had a maternity dress and my slippers on and there was a midwife on standby,' she says. 'The shame was, it was the most publicity we had. It was not because of the skill.'
