Kim O'Brien forfeits women's final at the European Pool Championships in protest against playing a man

The women's game would improve markedly if there were a greater number of women playing at grass roots. However, women still could not compete with men because however many women start playing pool, they will still, at population level, have smaller, weaker hands, a shorter arm span, and faster breathing and heartbeat.

This is all true, and I've said before that I think that yes, of course, men have an advantage, but if girls took to cue sports to anywhere near the extent that boys do, the standard of the women's game would improve markedly. Surely, much of it is about numbers. We've seen this happening with women's football; I'm sure it applies to all sports.

Another brave woman sacrificing her own sporting career for the benefit of others.
Such a contrast to the cheating men.

Thank you Kim. And sorry you were put in this position by the organisation and society that should have been protecting you and recognising your needs.

It’s not just physical differences, it’s social too. Pool Halls and social clubs are much harder to access as a female. It’s a very male dominated sport and harder for girls to just go and play unless they are confident. It’s not an activity girls do with female friends in the way boys can and do.
so there’s a social disadvantage too.

That's a year ago?

He hasn't half let himself go, hasn't he?

Funny that . . . he complains about not having legal recognition, because that stops him and others like him from defending themselves in court, and gets an entire newspaper column . . .
but when
we women point out that our legal status is being undermined because there is no longer an accepted definition of "woman" as "adult human female" which will prevent us from defending ourselves in court . . . we are dismissed out of hand!

Awesome Kim. You're a real life hero.

It's the constant vacillation between being (GC) Ultra and Lite. That and being classed as a Totalitarian Terf who emphatically doesn't

• want a system of government that is centralized and dictatorial and requires complete subservience to the state
• have a system of government supporting her (except for reluctant support from the legal and judiciary branches, if expensively persuaded to consider the matter).

https://physicsandphysicists.blogspot.com/2010/08/god-of-quantum-flapdoodle.html

Well done to Kim and to Lynne Pinches, both of whom were forced to make a brave stand that they should never have had to make in the first place. Let's hope it emboldens more women to follow suit and make a mockery of the farce going on.

As an aside, this was further down,

https://twitter.com/WingsScotland/status/1760615625657889095

No you fucking haven't, you tedious over-privileged narcissist ponce.

As a response to Oscar Davies, the Enbee barrister, complaining that he's experience hate crimes.

No need to apologise ultra

i just wondered how far his delusions went 😀

Fucking brilliant. Love that.

My apologies, that was the same competition in 2023 (looking at the background). And I'd been very caught by the language. I wondered why the England women's team were OK or standing mute about having HH as one of them.

No mention of HH's final placing or Kim O'Brien from HH on HH's Twitter timeline for 2024. But, fair play (writing very relatively), people have left comments under this and HH hasn't concealed them (or may not have noticed them as yet as it's the 2024 international match in the same European series).

https://twitter.com/HarrietHaynes90/status/1763134122887688230

Also, bloody well done Kim. What a woman! It devastates me that a woman has to give up her opportunities to make a point, but what a boss move. Brave.

Fuck these men. Fuck them.

Why is that man talking as if they actually played a match?

She fucked you off mate, get a grip.

Good stuff, Kim. This is (hopefully!) lining up to be a PR nightmare for the pool authorities, just at a time when they are hoping to expand into the big-time TV market. I watch a fair bit of pool, and from listening to the commentaries, you'd have no idea that HH is male (if you didn't already know); I wonder how long this 'say nothing' pretence can be kept up?

Well done to Kim.

That is one completely delusional interview if so…

Rufus, I think so. But it's so batshit I'm wondering myself. Perhaps it was from or referring to a different game?

Oh, I see what you mean. Maybe he was talking about a different match?

The dominating one ramming it home? Yes.

I dont mean to be funny but that video of the ‘winner’ honestly was in response to the fabulous Kim forfeiting?

really?

What a fantastic, principled stance.

Shame that so few men are keen to stand up for fairness in sport.

Is there a way of getting a message to her from all of us.
What a wonderful woman.

Well spotted!

I think we could probably assemble a "Freudian Male Language Bingo Card" if we put our collective (hive*?) minds to it.

*Almost all of the bees we see are female, and are working like billy-o for the swarm, not for themselves. Remind you of any particular sex (in general)?