Snooker

Jamie made the semi final of the very first event they played, the English womens open in 2021

height & reach make a considerable difference but even if Jamie was 5ft with a tiny reach, they are male & don’t belong on the womens tour. A biological woman is missing out so Jamie can play, that is unfair.

None of the usual cited factors have a bearing in the sport, strength, hand size, lung capacity, speed etc are not factors. There are sex categories because it was a "man" sport until women said hang on a minute. They then got fobbed off with their own league. Not because they were different to men but because they weren't men. That simple and basic.

Trying to make this about protecting women is where it starts to sound a bit silly. The correct fight to have here is the inclusion of women as a whole to the same leagues as men - including the sponsorship, coaching opportunities etc that the men get. Trying to fight to keep transwomen out of the women's league is arse about face.

I've wondered the same thing about darts - how much is physical strength/reach, and how much is time spent playing over and over?

I come from a family of snooker enthusiasts and used to play pool quite well but I gave it up in my teens due to my boobs becoming too large to play without some comment or sniggering from men and making it more difficult leaning over at the table. Also my hands were too small to make a good arch which put me at a disadvantage to the men and I just didn’t have the height or reach to move up to snooker.
We shouldn’t forget that in any sport, even those that initially seem like they could be easily mixed, women are often at a disadvantage due to menstruation.

Higglighying: Jamie ranks 5th in the world based on the last 12 months. The women ranked 1 and 2 are on the professional circuit...but it definitely couldn't be about the money....could it?

Er, no

This is the problem isn't it, it's not fairness in the sense of biological differences, but fairness in that a women has now lost out to a man.

I'd be interested in seeing Jamie's stats from 2019 when competing before transition. 2022 is the first year competing in the women's and already ranked 14th in the world overall and 5th in the world when only this year taken into account.
If there is no advantage/difference why is Jamie competing in the women's?

is it fair they take the place of someone else?

This is the question, if it means a women now can't compete then I don't agree with it, if a women doesn't get a chance to complete in the world championships then it is wrong.

But there must be some kind of social disadvantage that the women's competitions are trying to overcome? Otherwise they wouldn't have them?

I think you are assuming cause and effect where non exists. The social disadvantage and the segregated sport have a common cause- sexism. Breaking that barrier down by having women in the 'mens' event is a good thing.

I don't think there is any basis to stop transwomen competing against women in sports where there is no advantage. We want to work towards those sports being mixed.

We need to focus on defending fairness in majority of sports where biology matters or we will look like bigots.

And hand size

Snooker really isn’t my thing but, having attempted to play on a full-size table, I am not convinced that height and arm reach are insignificant.

Surely strength also makes a difference in snooker?

Money is a huge factor.
Many of the women players also have to work or have childcare/ caring responsibility plus no sponsorship.

To be honest I think you're reaching a bit here. Snooker is one activity that probably shouldn't be segregated by sex (or gender for that matter). There is definitely an issue that girls are less likely to take it up however that is a different issue and it has been great to see female referees at almost every session of every big tournament in recent years.