Eva Collins was an

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...

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 ...

and

billiards Cue sports are a wide variety of games of skill played with a cue, which is used to strike billiard balls and thereby cause them to move around a cloth-covered table bounded by elastic bumpers known as . There are three major subdivisions of ...

player. She was runner-up in the 1930 British Women's Billiards Championship, and in its successor tournament, the

Women's Professional Billiards Championship The Women's Professional Billiards Championship was an English billiards tournament held from 1930 to 1950. The tournament was first organised by Burroughes Hall, Burroughes and Watts in 1930 and 1931, before the WBA ran the event until its con ...

in 1931.

Early life and billiards career

Eva Collins was the daughter of professional billiards player George Collins, who was the all-England

champion in 1877 and 1888. Her sister, Ella Collins, was also a pioneering women's

player. She started learning to play in July 1902, and a few months later, at the age of 12, was the subject of an article in the Portsmouth Evening News for beating a boy of 16 in a billiards match. In 1906, Collins played two series of billiards exhibition matches against "Madame Strebor," a pseudonym used by an unknown woman player who had toured with

John Roberts Jr John Glover Roberts Jr. (born January 27, 1955) is an American lawyer and jurist who has served as the 17th chief justice of the United States since 2005. Roberts has authored the majority opinion in several landmark cases, including ''Nati ...

. The series held at

Burroughes Hall Burroughes Hall was an important English billiards, billiards and snooker venue in Soho Square, London from 1903 until it closed in 1967. The hall was in the premises of Burroughes & Watts Ltd., who had been at 19 Soho Square since 1836. Burroughes ...

finished 7–5 in favour of Madame Strebor. Shortly afterward, Collins won 15 of 24 matches against Strebor in Manchester. Collins became a billiards instructor at the Lyceum Ladies Club. As of January 1936, she had been coaching for over 24 years. She used her father's cue in competition.

Women's Billiards Association and Women's Professional Billiards Championship

In 1930, Collins was the losing finalist in the British Women's Billiards Championship organised by the cue sports company Burrouhges and Watts. When the

Women's Billiards Association The Women's Billiards Association (WBA), founded in 1931 and based in London, United Kingdom, was the governing body for women's English billiards and snooker, and organised the Women's Professional Billiards Championship and Women's Professi ...

was formed in 1931, Collins was one of four professional players appointed to a committee to organise the professional championships, along with

Joyce Gardner Joyce Gardner (1910–1981) was an English professional English billiards player. She was the Women's Professional Billiards Champion from 1931 to 1933, and from 1935 to 1938. Early life Joyce Winifred Frances Gardner was born on 24 August 1910 ...

Ruth Harrison Ruth Harrison (; 24 June 1920 – 13 June 2000) was an English animal welfare activist and writer. Biography Harrison was born in London, the daughter of the author Stephen Winsten and the artist Clara Birnberg. She was educated at Bedford ...

, and

Margaret Lennan Margaret Lennan was a Scottish snooker and billiards player. She was runner-up in the 1936 Women's Professional Billiards Championship. Biography Lennan started playing billiards at the age of 17, and received coaching from Alec Donaldson, ...

. From 1931, the

organised the world championship, with the same trophy used in the 1930 British Women's Billiards Championship, and Collins was again a losing finalist in the first competition under the Association's control, in 1931. Collins played in the

each year from 1930 to 1937, but did not play in 1938, possibly due to her other commitments as a coach and referee. She also competed in the

Women's Professional Snooker Championship The Women's Professional Snooker Championship was a snooker tournament run from 1934 to 1950 by the Women's Billiards Association. The event was the world championship for female players during this time. Ruth Harrison was the most successful pl ...

, but never reached the final of that tournament.

Refereeing

She was the first woman to qualify as a billiards and snooker referee, at a time when only around 200 men held the same qualification. At the Boy's Billiards Championship in 1932, became the first woman to referee a championship match.

Titles and achievements

Snooker Billiards

References

External links

Miss Eva Collins
plays Mr Frank Smith in a Billiard Match in aid of comfort for mine sweepers, 16 February 1918
Potting The Ball.
Eva Collins teaching women to play at her Kensington billiards school, London, 2 November 1937.
Eva Collins
in 1939. {{DEFAULTSORT:Collins, Eva English snooker players Female snooker players Female players of English billiards English players of English billiards Date of birth missing Date of death missing Sportspeople from Portsmouth