Maria Catalano

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Maria Catalano
Born (1982-02-27) 27 February 1982 (age 44)
Sport countryFile:Flag of England.svg England
Highest rankingWorld Women's Snooker: 1

Maria Catalano (born 27 February 1982[1]) is an English snooker player from Dudley.[2] She began playing snooker at 15 and received coaching from her first cousin, professional player Ronnie O'Sullivan. She made her World Women's Snooker Tour debut in 1998 and went on to win 11 women's ranking titles, including the 2007 British Women's Open and the 2012 UK Women's Championship. A five-time runner-up at the World Women's Snooker Championship, she was ranked number one in the women's world rankings during the 2013–14 season. With Reanne Evans, she won the World Women's Pairs Championship in 2018. She reached the final stages of the World Seniors Championship in 2022, becoming the first female player to do so.

After transgender player Jamie Hunter won the inaugural US Women’s Open in August 2022, Catalano ceased competing to protest World Professional Billiards and Snooker Association policies permitting transgender players to enter women's tournaments. In 2025, after the WPBSA announced that it would review its stance on transgender competitors, Catalano said that she would return to the sport if the rules were changed.

Career

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Catalano attended secondary school at Hillcrest Community College, Netherton, West Midlands.[3] She began playing snooker in working men's clubs when she was 15 and received coaching from her first cousin, professional player Ronnie O'Sullivan.[4] She made her World Women's Snooker Tour debut in 1998.[5] She has since won 11 women's ranking titles,[5] including the Connie Gough Trophy six times, the 2007 British Women's Open, and the 2012 UK Women's Championship.[6][7] In 2003, she ended Kelly Fisher's 69-match, two-year winning streak on the women's tour by defeating her 3–1 in the quarter-finals of the East Anglian Open.[8][9] In 2011, she ended Reanne Evans's record 90-match, three-year winning streak with a 3–1 victory in the semi-finals of the Northern Championship.[9]

A five-time runner-up in the World Women's Snooker Championship, Catalano lost the 2009, 2010, 2012, and 2013 finals to Reanne Evans and the 2018 final to Ng On-yee.[10][11] At the 2012 event, she made her highest break on the women's tour, a 116 in her semi-final match against Tatjana Vasiljeva.[5] She was ranked world number one on the women's tour during the 2013–14 season.[10] She and Vasiljeva were runners-up in the World Women's Pairs Championship in 2016; she and Reanne Evans won the event in 2018, defeating Laura Evans and Suzie Opacic 3–0 in the final.[12] Her form declined after 2018, which she attributed to her father's death in that year, commenting in 2022 that "it’s been a constant struggle since then" and saying she had been "finding it difficult to practice, just feeling I was getting nothing out of it."[13] In May 2022, she became the first woman to compete in the final stages of the World Seniors Championship at the Crucible Theatre, having reached the eligible age of 40 in February of that year.[14][15] She lost 0–3 to Wael Talaat but made a half-century break in the final frame.[16]

Catalano had long expressed her belief that men held innate advantages over women in snooker. In 2014, after six-time world champion Steve Davis suggested that women lacked the "single-minded, obsessional type of brain" needed to succeed at the elite levels of the sport, Catalano agreed, saying, "I don't think women will ever compete with men at the top level".[17] In August 2022, after transgender player Jamie Hunter won the inaugural US Women’s Open, Catalano called for transgender players to be banned from women's tournaments, saying "if this is allowed and becomes more common, there is no future for women’s snooker."[18][19][20] Jason Ferguson, chairman of the World Professional Billiards and Snooker Association, responded that no such ban would be implemented, saying: "We have taken sufficient medical advice to be very satisfied that our policy is right for the current climate."[21][18] Catalano ceased playing in 2022 in protest against the WPBSA's stance, stating that she was standing up for "unfairness" against cisgender women.[22]

In April 2025, following the UK Supreme Court decision in For Women Scotland Ltd v The Scottish Ministers, the WPBSA stated that it would review its policy on transgender players.[23] Catalano said she would return to the sport if the rules were changed, saying: “I would love to go back. Snooker is in the blood.” She claimed that she had consistently been "shut down" by the WPBSA and its chairman Ferguson, said she felt "unheard," and alleged that other players were "frightened to say anything because they know they can get banned.” A WPBSA spokesperson stated: "The World Women's Snooker Tour is a welcoming environment. Maria Catalano remains welcome at World Women's Snooker Tour events, as has always been the case."[22]

Personal life

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Her father, Antonio Catalano, was the brother of Ronnie O'Sullivan's mother, Maria O'Sullivan (née Catalano),[3] making the two players first cousins.[4][24] She was named Maria after Ronnie O'Sullivan's mother,[25] while Ronnie O'Sullivan was given the middle name Antonio after her father.[26] Following her father's death from cancer in 2018, she shaved her head on the eve of the 2018 UK Women's Championship to raise funds for the Macmillan Cancer Support charity.[27] Outside snooker, she works in her family's ice-cream business.[5]

Performance timeline

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World Women's Snooker

Tournament[28] 1997/
98 		1998/
99 		1999/
00 		2000/
01 		2001/
02 		2002/
03 		2003/
04 		2004/
05 		2005/
06 		2006/
07 		2007/
08 		2008/
09 		2009/
10 		2010/
11 		2011/
12 		2012/
13 		2013/
14 		2014/
15 		2015/
16 		2016/
17 		2017/
18 		2018/
19 		2019/
20 		2020/
21 		2021/
22 		2022/
23 		2023/
24 		2024/
25
Current tournaments
UK Championship A LQ 2R SF QF QF NH SF F A F F F F SF W F A QF QF SF 1R F NH QF 2R A A
US Open Tournament Not Held A A A
Australian Open Tournament Not Held A A NH A A A
Scottish Open Tournament Not Held F Tournament Not Held A A A
Masters Tournament Not Held SF SF F F Not Held F SF SF QF SF 1R SF NH SF 2R A A
Belgian Open Not Held 1R QF Tournament Not Held A QF Not Held A A A
Asia-Pacific Championship Tournament Not Held A NH NH
World Championship 1R 2R 2R QF 1R QF NH SF SF QF SF F F SF F F QF A 1R 1R F A Not Held 2R QF A
British Open 3R 1R 2R QF F SF NH A A A W QF SF 1R Not Held A Not Held 1R Not Held SF QF A
Former tournaments
National Championship A QF Tournament Not Held
Grand Prix A 2R 2R 1R Tournament Not Held
Scottish Masters A 2R 2R QF QF 1R Tournament Not Held
LG Cup Tournament Not Held QF 1R Tournament Not Held
European Masters[nb 1] Tournament Not Held QF Tournament Not Held A Not Held
Welsh Open A 2R 2R 1R QF QF Tournament Not Held
East Anglian Championship Tournament Not Held A 1R A F W SF W Tournament Not Held
Northern Championship Tournament Not Held F W Tournament Not Held W F Tournament Not Held
Southern Championship[nb 2] Tournament Not Held F QF F F F 1R NH F Tournament Not Held
Eden Classic Tournament Not Held F QF Tournament Not Held
Connie Gough Trophy[nb 3] 1R 2R 3R QF QF 1R QF SF W W W SF F SF W W F F A W Tournament Not Held
Paul Hunter Classic Tournament Not Held SF QF Tournament Not Held
10-Red World Championship Tournament Not Held 2R QF QF Not Held
6-Red World Championship Tournament Not Held QF QF QF Not Held
Performance Table Legend
LQ lost in the qualifying draw #R lost in the early rounds of the tournament
(WR = Wildcard round, RR = Round robin) 		QF lost in the quarter-finals
SF lost in the semi-finals F lost in the final W won the tournament
DNQ did not qualify for the tournament A did not participate in the tournament WD withdrew from the tournament
NH / Not Held means an event was not held.
NR / Non-Ranking Event means an event is/was no longer a ranking event.
R / Ranking Event means an event is/was a ranking event.
MR / Minor-Ranking Event means an event is/was a minor-ranking event.
PA / Pro-am Event means an event is/was a pro-am event.
  1. ^ The event was called the European Open (2002/2003)
  2. ^ The event was called the South Coast Classic (2006/07–2009/10)
  3. ^ The event was called the Connie Gough Memorial (1997/98–1998/99, 2002/03 & 2011/12–2014/15) and Connie Gough National (1999/00–2001/02 & 2004/05–2010/11)

Titles and achievements

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Outcome No. Year Championship Opponent Score Ref.
Runner-up 1 2001 British Open Kelly Fisher 0–4 [29]
Runner-up 2 2003 Scottish Open Wendy Jans 1–4 [30]
Runner-up 3 2005 Northern Championship Lynette Horsburgh 2–4 [31]
Runner-up 4 2005 WLBSA' UK championship Reanne Evans 0–4 [32]
Winner 5 2006 Northern Championship June Banks 4–1 [33]
Winner 6 2006 Connie Gough National Reanne Evans 4–3 [34]
Winner 7 2006 Regal Ladies Championship June Banks 4–1 [32]
Winner 8 2007 British Championship June Banks [32]
Winner 9 2007 Connie Gough National June Banks 3–1 [7][32]
Winner 10 2007 British Open Emma Bonney 3–2 [32]
Runner-up 11 2007 South Coast Classic Reanne Evans 2–4 [35]
Winner 12 2008 Connie Gough National Reanne Evans 3–2 [32]
Runner-up 13 2008 East Anglian Championship Reanne Evans 0–3 [36]
Runner-up 13 2008 UK Ladies Championship Reanne Evans 1–3 [37]
Runner-up 14 2009 WLBSA World Ladies' Championship Reanne Evans 2–5 [38]
Runner-up 15 2009 South Coast Classic Reanne Evans 0–3 [32]
Runner-up 16 2009 East Anglian Championship Reanne Evans 0–3 [32]
Runner-up 17 2009 UK Ladies Championship Reanne Evans 1–3 [32]
Runner-up 18 2010 WLBSA World Ladies' World Championship Reanne Evans 1–5 [38]
Runner-up 19 2010 Connie Gough National Reanne Evans 1–3 [32]
Runner-up 20 2010 South Coast Classic Reanne Evans 1–3 [32]
Runner-up 21 2010 UK Ladies Championship Reanne Evans 0–3 [39]
Runner-up 22 2010 East Anglian Championship Reanne Evans 0–3 [40]
Winner 23 2011 Northern Championship Ching Ching Yu 3–1 [41]
Winner 24 2011 East Anglian Championship Katie Henrick 3–0 [42]
Winner 25 2012 Connie Gough Memorial Jaique Ip 3–0 [43]
Runner-up 26 2012 WLBSA World Ladies' World Championship Reanne Evans 3–5 [38]
Winner 27 2012 UK Ladies Championship Tina Owen-Sevilton 3–0 [44]
Runner-up 28 2013 WLBSA World Ladies' World Championship Reanne Evans 3–6 [38]
Winner 29 2013 Connie Gough Memorial Emma Bonney 3–0 [45]
Runner-up 30 2013 Eden Resources Masters Reanne Evans 0–4 [46]
Runner-up 31 2013 UK Ladies Championship Ng On-yee 2–4 [47]
Runner-up 32 2014 Connie Gough Trophy Reanne Evans 0–4 [48]
Runner-up 33 2014 Southern Classic Ng On-yee 1–4 [49]
Runner-up 34 2014 Eden Classic Reanne Evans 3–5 [50]
Runner-up 35 2016 Connie Gough Trophy Reanne Evans 0–4 [51]
Winner 36 2017 Connie Gough Trophy Rebecca Kenna 4–2 [52][53]
Runner-up 37 2018 Women's World Snooker Championship Ng On-yee 0–5 [54]
Runner-up 38 2019 UK Women's Snooker Championship Reanne Evans 2–4 [55]

References

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