Maryann McConnell

Last updated

Maryann McConnell
BornCanada
Sport countryFlag of Canada (Pantone).svg  Canada
Highest ranking 2 (Women's snooker)

Maryann McConnell is a Canadian snooker and pool player. She was runner-up in the 1984 Professional World Women's Snooker Championship and has won numerous pool tournaments in Canada.

Contents

Biography

McConnell started playing at the age of 24, at the University of Guelph in Ontario where she studied from 1974 to 1980. [1] She later drove daily to a pool hall in nearby Kitchener, where she played snooker, practicing for as much as eight hours a day. [2]

In 1980, 1981, and 1983, she was a quarter-finalist in the World Women's Snooker Championship. In 1984, separate amateur and professional events were staged. McConnell entered the professional event, and reached the final, losing 2–4 to Mandy Fisher. At one time, McConnell was the second-ranked woman player. [2] [3]

She was the runner-up in the 1984 National Express Grand Prix ladies snooker series, [4] and spent the summer of 1985 living in Saudi Arabia. [5]

In 1991, she took part in the 1991 World Masters, losing in her first matches in both the women's singles, and the women's doubles (with J. Page). In the mixed doubles she fared slightly better, partnering Alain Robidoux to wins over Neal Foulds and J. Page, and over seeded Terry Griffiths and Mandy Fisher, before losing to James Wattana and S. Smith. [6] [7]

In 1992, she beat Sherri Richardson 4–2 in the semi-final, and Rhondda Jackman in the final to win the Canadian Women's Championship, retaining the title that she had won at the previous staging in 1983. [8]

McConnell has a degree in fine art [1] and runs a pool hall, Alberni Valley Billiards. [2] She has four children. Her late husband Robin Woodward died in 2013, and had worked with McConnell managing the business. [9]

Titles and achievements

Snooker

Nine-ball Pool

Eight-Ball Pool

Scotch Doubles (Pool)

References

  1. 1 2 "University of Guelph Alumni". University of Guelph . Retrieved September 8, 2020.
  2. 1 2 3 Quinn, Susan (April 11, 2013). "Cue-ing up the accolades in Alberni". Alberni Valley News. Archived from the original on September 1, 2019. Retrieved September 1, 2019.
  3. 1 2 "World Champions". womenssnooker.com. World Women's Snooker Collection. Archived from the original on August 18, 2019. Retrieved August 30, 2019.
  4. Everton, Clive (1985). Guinness Snooker – The Records. Guinness Superlatives Ltd. pp. 154–156. ISBN   0851124488.
  5. John Mahler (photographer) and Maryann McConnell (subject) (1985). Right on cue: Maryann McConnell (photograph). Toronto Reference Library. Retrieved September 8, 2020.
  6. Everton, Clive (January 15, 1991). "Motorway mayhem fails to ruffle Parrott: Lucky breaks can occur even before arrival at the Mita World Masters". The Guardian. p. 15.
  7. Hale, Janice (1991). Rothmans Snooker Yearbook 1991–92. Queen Anne Press. pp. 364–366. ISBN   0-356-19747-6.
  8. "Women's Circuit: Canada". Snooker Scene. No. July 1992. Everton's News Agency. p. 24.
  9. "Obituary – Robin Adaire Woodward". remembering.ca. October 3, 2013. Retrieved September 1, 2019.
  10. Billiard Congress of America (2005). Billiards, Revised and Updated: The Official Rules And Records Book. Lyons Press. pp. 165–. ISBN   978-1-4617-4992-9.