Snooker

Yes about weight categories. The only ones I care about are the best. The eights rowing or singles I don't mind I'm not sure what the question is here the 8 person boat was the 8 best people then I would treat it the same as the single competition. And of course the European competition is less valid than the world cup. Count the number of stars on the shirt next to the badge of a national team they relate to world cup only.

I do watch some sport like kiddies football and under 18's if it happens to be on (just like women's football although I'm confident the England under 16's team would beat the England women's team) but generally I don't hunt it out. Likewise I follow my local football team but only really the team that is represented by the best 11 players.

But back to snooker. I really can't see why women can't compete at the top like darts or some Motorsport. I want to see the best human talent there solely on merit.

People saying ‘but that bloke is shorter and still a champion’ do understand that even as a shorter male, they potentially have longer arms, stronger wrists, larger hands etc.

I also agree about the power aspect for that break (or whatever). Would grip power also come into that??

Does breathing have an effect on aim in snooker? Women need more breaths. Does this mean that they have less time to aim and shoot.

I can think of a number of other skeletal proportion differences. Would those sex category differences matter?

I know people often state that snooker has little impact sex wise. I would be surprised though, if sexed bodies didn’t have more of a difference than first thought.

As someone who plays. developing big tits, and being short (5'4") was a HUGE disadvantage.

Just remembered, my Dad was a member of the British Legion. Women weren't even allowed in the snooker room.

I'm 5 ft 1 with GGs. My male partner is about 6ft. We each have corresponding wingspan and hand size. Do people think he would have an advantage over me at snooker, because I can't help think his size would give him an advantage.

Re. Beer gut/pregnant belly comparison, I don't think a guy's pot (snooker geddit!) Is likely to stretch or suddenly kick him in the bladder.

Curious as to whether this attitude extends to sports with size/weight categories? Would you think that only the top weight category in boxing, weightlifting, judo, etc be worth watching? As they will punch harder, lift more, throw harder? What about rowing? Are the lightweight categories not worth watching? Are the Eights the pinnacle or is it the singles??

Do you only ever watch elite level sport, never any lower levels? Is the European football competition less valid than the World Cup?

Re size, Ken Docherty is very slight, small hands / arm span yet he was a World champion.

I see the chest issue, can I point out that there are quite a few tubby top male players resplendent with man boobs, i.e. Shaun Murphy.

But I agree with other posters, a women's league is a women's league whether that be chess or cycling. And yes as much as I love it, snooker is not a great environment for women.

Yes the main snooker events aren't actually gendered, at least one woman has broken through to the early stages but got knocked out a few years ago.

Snooker is exceedingly blokey and old fashioned, only a few years ago a female referee left due to sexism, so it's probably down to a comfort issue of being accepted. It certainly would raise a few eyebrows with this crowd which I would like to see.

In early replies to the OP upthread I added strength and hand size to the list of physical differences that would benefit men Strength was almost immediately poo-pooed, but it is absolutely the case that you need strength (or maybe power is a better word) for the opening break and some of the pots. Of course many women will have able to develop enough power to be on a level playing field with men, but the number of women who can compete with men will be a far lower proportion of women as a class Just playing pool with friends shows the disparity and that will persist in all lower level competitiond. It is a class difference and the cumulative impact of class differences with respect to various physical traits will mean women cannot be on an even playing field before you even get on to the social obstacles and the fact that the whole point of the women's completion is to promote the sport for a specified group.

I'm wondering about hip rotation/pelvis swivel.

And of course hormonal changes which affect many women with great regularity and certainly can affect performance. Can't imagine playing snooker with period pains, frankly. Or pregnant.

Who's going to tell me someone eight months pregnant has just the same disadvantage as the tubby bloke mentioned upthread?

Agree - hands, arm length, height, boobs etc.

Yes a transwoman might have breast implants but with implants you get to choose the size you want, or whether to have them at all.

It’s been years since I played but as PPs have said the atmosphere in a club was awful, sexist and intimidating, especially if you don’t have the ‘protection’ of a boyfriend, brother or dad who plays, or ones who would bother to protect you. Apart from the sexual harassment etc, many men really did not like it if I won. That’s a really hostile environment to play and practice in. I doubt it’s changed much now.

Plus many men have been brought up playing for years (sneaking in underage, taught by family etc) whereas that is rare for women so I was always playing catch up. It also helped a lot that I’m tall for a woman.

There’s no reason that a transwoman couldn’t carry on in the male league - both sexes wear trousers to play. If they try to make any argument about differences in hormones then they automatically argue themselves out of the women’s game having gone through male puberty and having who knows what testosterone levels.

Yep Jamie. Play with the men no reason not to

Absolutely this.
Why can't men f off out of women's sport?
There is no reason why Jamie can't play in the men's game, wearing whatever Jamie wishes.

Sorry about typos!

Men's competition already is open to women, most earth-shatteringly obviously of all open to 'trans women', but there are well established reasons why women's-only competition is attractive [not least to trans women].
I was going to ask this so thanks. I believe jts the same jn darts. Women are allowed I'm the main competition but hardly feature and there is a wkmems tournament too.

You beat me to it, even in a friendly game of pool my boobs get in the way massively.

Mind you, if tits are a disadvantage, that would work against most transwomen too.

I don't give a shit if a male is the smallest most petite and dainty male in the world, he can still fuck off out of women's sporting competitions.

So many looking for excuses to allow men to compete against women because in snooker 'sex doesn't matter'.
No. It does fucking matter because it's a gateway to allowing men in ALL women's sports and knowing that they are men is not fucking bigoted.

They can call themselves what they like but women do not have to provide these men with validation for their ideological beliefs, and our spaces and sports are not theirs to colonise and claim as their own.

How so many women fawn all over males who claim to be women is beyond me.

I find womens tennis interesting precisely because they can't hit the ball so hard, but that's by the by.

John Higgins at 5'8 has been cited as short for a snooker player which should tell you that it's better to be taller.
But the average woman is around 3" shorter.

Reanne Evans has competed on the main tour before, and she isn't the only woman to have done so.

I can't believe people are trying to dismiss the physical differences. Yes, men and women could compete more equally than say basketball but women would still be at a disadvantage, winning far fewer competitions. It wouldn't be fair.

I want to watch the best people play sport to the top of human endeavour. Snooker shouldn't be segregated in that way neither darts so I would happily watch women in those sports because there is no biological reason why. Tennis athletics and football I'm sorry but the women are never going to run as fast jump as high or hit the ball as hard therefore I am simply not going to see women competing in those sports I'm not interested. Spectator Sport for me is about watching the best humans I certainly don't want to see women's sports segregated away where there is no physical reason they can't compete with men.

Top male snooker players tend to be a little taller than average, but there's also room at the very top for someone like a John Higgins, who's about 5'8" & rather tubby/physically unimposing.

Higgins lost a power of weight recently.

It's back to the Emily Bridges scenario, I'd cheer her on and wish her to win if she rode in her sex class.