Allison Fisher (born 24 February 1968) is an English professional

pool Pool may refer to: Water pool * Swimming pool, usually an artificial structure containing a large body of water intended for swimming * Reflecting pool, a shallow pool designed to reflect a structure and its surroundings * Tide pool, a rocky pool ...

and former professional

snooker Snooker (pronounced , ) is a cue sports, cue sport played on a Billiard table#Snooker and English billiards tables, rectangular table covered with a green cloth called baize, with six Billiard table#Pockets 2, pockets, one at each corner and o ...

player.

Biography

Fisher was born on 24 February 1968 in

Cheshunt Cheshunt ( ) is a town in Hertfordshire, England, north of London on the River Lea and Lee Navigation. It contains a section of the Lee Valley Park, including much of the River Lee Country Park. To the north lies Broxbourne and Wormley, Hertfor ...

and grew up in

Tonbridge Tonbridge ( ) is a market town in Kent, England, on the River Medway, north of Royal Tunbridge Wells, south west of Maidstone and south east of London. In the administrative borough of Tonbridge and Malling, it had an estimated population ...

Kent Kent is a county in South East England and one of the home counties. It borders Greater London to the north-west, Surrey to the west and East Sussex to the south-west, and Essex to the north across the estuary of the River Thames; it faces ...

and lived later in

Peacehaven Peacehaven is a town and civil parish in the Lewes district of East Sussex, England. It is located above the chalk cliffs of the South Downs approximately six miles () east of Brighton city centre, on the A259 road. Its site coincides with th ...

East Sussex East Sussex is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in South East England on the English Channel coast. It is bordered by Kent to the north and east, West Sussex to the west, and Surrey to the north-west. The largest settlement in East Su ...

. She started playing snooker when she was 7. She won her first world title at the age of 17. To date, she has won over 80 national titles and 11 world titles in total. Throughout the 1980s, she made various attempts to qualify for the main Men's snooker tour, which contained around 128 players at the time, but these attempts were unsuccessful. However, by 1991, the tour had changed considerably meaning all players had to do to become a 'professional' on the main tour was pay an entry fee. This meant over 500 players played in qualifying rounds for the ranking tournaments. Fisher reached round 4 of the qualifying rounds of the 1994 World Championship where she was beaten by

Roger Garrett Roger Garrett is an English former professional snooker player. Career Garrett turned professional in 1992. Prior to his joining the tour, he had notably compiled a total clearance directly from his break-off, scoring 140 at a tournament at ...

10–4. She was unable to progress into the higher reaches of the ranking lists and by 1997 she lost her professional status. Feeling that she did not receive the same respect as the male players, she moved to the United States to play on the

WPBA Tour The Women's Professional Billiard Association Tour (known as the WPBA Tour) is a series of professional women's pool tournaments first held in 1992. Events on the tour are operated by the Women's Professional Billiard Association The Women's Pro ...

. On 18 March 2009, she endorsed the Delta-13 billiard rack and has her own signature series. Fisher did not take long to make her mark in the world of pool, winning only the second tournament that she played in. She has an unequalled record, winning over 60 WPBA titles as of 2021, which includes 4 world 9-Ball championships. Since her move, she has also been the highest-earning player on a number of occasions, which takes into account male and female players. Matchroom sports invited her to play in the Matchroom snooker league, and she was also invited to play in the

Mosconi Cup The Mosconi Cup is an annual nine-ball pool tournament contested since 1994 between teams representing Europe and the United States. Named after American pool player Willie Mosconi, the event is comparable to the Ryder Cup in golf and the Weber ...

1994, when Europe lost 16:12 against Team USA. She was the top-ranked player on the Women's Professional Billiards Association (WPBA) circuit from September 1996 to June 2001, and again each year from 2002 to 2007. In 2009, Fisher was inducted into the

Billiard Congress of America Hall of Fame This is the list of people inducted into the Billiard Congress of America's hall of fame to honour outstanding people who, through their competitive skills and dedication, have enriched the sport and industry. Two categories have been established in ...

. Fisher was nicknamed "the Duchess of Doom" and gained a reputation similar to that of the sixteen-time

darts Darts or dart-throwing is a competitive sport in which two or more players bare-handedly throw small projectile point, sharp-pointed projectile, missiles known as dart (missile), darts at a round shooting target, target known as a #Dartboard, dar ...

world champion Phil Taylor and snooker players

Joe Davis Joseph Davis (15 April 190110 July 1978) was an English professional snooker and English billiards player. He was the dominant figure in snooker from the 1920s to the 1950s, and has been credited with inventing aspects of the way the game i ...

Steve Davis Steve Davis (born 22 August 1957) is an English retired professional snooker player who is currently a Sports commentator, commentator, musician, DJ, and author. He is best known for dominating professional snooker during the 1980s, when he rea ...

and

Stephen Hendry Stephen Gordon Hendry (born 13 January 1969) is a Scottish professional snooker player who dominated the sport during the 1990s, becoming one of the most successful players in its history. After turning professional in 1985 at age 16, Hendry ...

in the 1930s and 80s–90s, respectively. Her greatest season was the 2000/2001 season when she won 8 consecutive major pro pool tournaments. In the 2005 season, Fisher was the highest earner, winning £111,000. In 2007, she was declared the female Player of the Year by all three of the major pool publications, ''Billiards Digest'', ''Pool & Billiard Magazine'', and ''InsidePOOL Magazine'' (in each case with

Shane Van Boening Shane Van Boening (; born July 14, 1983) is an American professional pool player from Rapid City, South Dakota. As of 2022, Van Boening is the number 1 ranked player in the "World Rankings" published by the Matchroom Pool and the "WPA Rankings ...

as her male co-recipient of the honor), and also ranked #1 in the ''P&B'' "Fans' Top 20 Favorite Players" poll for that year. She has been the ''BD'' female Player of the Year for 11 of the 12 years spanning 1996–2007, including 6 in a row, 2002–2007. Fisher was appointed

Member of the Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding contributions to the arts and sciences, work with charitable and welfare organisations, and public service outside the civil service. It was established o ...

(MBE) in the 2022 New Year Honours for services to sport.

Titles and achievements

;Snooker ;Pool * A record 60 '' WPBA titles'' * ''Billiards Digest'' Player of the Year 1996-2000, 2002-2007 * ''Billiards Digest'' Player of the Decade 1990–1999, 2000-2010 * 1999 ''Billiards Digest'' 9th Greatest Living Player of the Century * 2007 ''Pool & Billiard Magazine'' Fans' Top 20 Favorite Players, #1 * 2009 ''

'' * 2016 '' WPBA'' Hall of Fame * 2022 ''

World Women's Snooker World Women's Snooker, founded as the World Ladies Billiards and Snooker Association (WLBSA) in 1981, and known as World Ladies Billiards and Snooker (WLBS) from 2015 to 2018, is a subsidiary company of the World Professional Billiards and Snoo ...

'' Hall of Fame * 2022 ''

'' (MBE).

References

External links

Official site
* ttp://www.delta-13.com Official Delta-13 site {{DEFAULTSORT:Fisher, Allison 1968 births Living people English pool players English snooker players Female pool players Female snooker players People from Hadlow World champions in pool People from Peacehaven Lesbian sportswomen LGBT sportspeople from England World Games gold medalists Competitors at the 2009 World Games LGBT cue sports players Competitors at the 2005 World Games People from Tonbridge Sportspeople from Kent People from Cheshunt 21st-century LGBT people Members of the Order of the British Empire