Ewa Laurance (formerly Ewa Mataya, February 26, 1964) is a Swedish professional pool player, most notably on the
Women's Professional Billiard Association
The Women's Professional Billiard Association (WPBA) is a professional women's pool tour based in the United States. It was founded in 1976 as the Women's Professional Billiard Alliance by players Madelyn Whitlow and Palmer Byrd, and by Larry Mi ...
nine-ball
Nine-ball (sometimes written 9-ball) is a discipline of the cue sport pool. The game's origins are traceable to the 1920s in the United States. It is played on a rectangular billiard table with at each of the four corners and in the middle of e ...
tour, a
sports writer
Sports journalism is a form of writing that reports on matters pertaining to sporting topics and competitions. Sports journalism started in the early 1800s when it was targeted to the social elite and transitioned into an integral part of the n ...
, and more recently a
sports commentator
In sports broadcasting, a sports commentator (also known as sports announcer or sportscaster) provides a real-time commentary of a game or event, usually during a live broadcast, traditionally delivered in the historical present tense. Radio was ...
for
ESPN
ESPN (originally an initialism for Entertainment and Sports Programming Network) is an American international basic cable sports channel owned by ESPN Inc., owned jointly by The Walt Disney Company (80%) and Hearst Communications (20%). The ...
. In 2004, she was inducted into the
Billiard Congress of America
The Billiard Congress of America (BCA) is the governing body for cue sports in the United States and Canada, and the regional member organization of the World Pool-Billiard Association (WPA).` Puerto Rico, though a US territory, and Mexico, though ...
's
Hall of Fame
A hall, wall, or walk of fame is a list of individuals, achievements, or other entities, usually chosen by a group of electors, to mark their excellence or Wiktionary:fame, fame in their field. In some cases, these halls of fame consist of actu ...
.
[Induction into BCA Hall of Fame 2004](_blank)
She has been nicknamed "the Leading Lady of Billiards" and "the Striking Viking".
Playing career
Laurance has been playing pool since she was 4 years old. She moved to the
United States
The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...
in 1981 after competing at the World Championships in
New York City
New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...
.
Laurance has won numerous major women's pool titles, including the
WPA World Nine-ball Championship
The WPA World Nine-ball Championship is an annual professional nine-ball pool tournament contested since 1990. The championship is sanctioned by the World Pool-Billiard Association (WPA) and principally sponsored and organised by Matchroom Sport, ...
,
US Open Nine-ball Championship
The U.S. Open 9-Ball Championship is an annual professional men's nine-ball pool tournament that began in its current form in 1976. The U.S. Open is one of the most sought-after titles in nine-ball and in pool generally. Traditionally, winners of ...
,
WPBA National Nine-ball Championship,
International Trickshot Championship and the Swedish and
European
European, or Europeans, or Europeneans, may refer to:
In general
* ''European'', an adjective referring to something of, from, or related to Europe
** Ethnic groups in Europe
** Demographics of Europe
** European cuisine, the cuisines of Europe ...
14.1 Championships.
In 2005, Laurance bested three of her peers,
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 ...
members
Allison Fisher
Allison Fisher (born 24 February 1968) is an English professional pool and former professional snooker player.
Biography
Fisher was born on 24 February 1968 in Cheshunt and grew up in Tonbridge, Kent and lived later in Peacehaven, East Sussex ...
,
Dawn Hopkins, and
Gerda Hofstatter, at the Women's Trick Shot Challenge held at the New York Hotel Casino in
Las Vegas
Las Vegas (; Spanish for "The Meadows"), often known simply as Vegas, is the 25th-most populous city in the United States, the most populous city in the state of Nevada, and the county seat of Clark County. The city anchors the Las Vegas ...
,
Nevada
Nevada ( ; ) is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, Western region of the United States. It is bordered by Oregon to the northwest, Idaho to the northeast, California to the west, Arizona to the southeast, and Utah to the east. N ...
, pocketing
US$
The United States dollar (symbol: $; code: USD; also abbreviated US$ or U.S. Dollar, to distinguish it from other dollar-denominated currencies; referred to as the dollar, U.S. dollar, American dollar, or colloquially buck) is the official ...
25,000 as the grand prize. Animated and expressive, she played to the audience and the cameras, "a true showperson in her element and a wonderful example to all trick shot artists."
Television
She was the co-host of the
GSN original game show ''
Ballbreakers
''Ballbreakers'' is an American pocket billiards game show that began on the Game Show Network on July 18, 2005. The hosts were Sal Masekela, Ewa Mataya Laurance, and Adrianne Curry. GSN cancelled the show in 2006.
Play
The show featured four pe ...
''. She has hosted the ''
Ultimate Pool Party
Ultimate or Ultimates may refer to:
Arts, entertainment, and media Music Albums
* ''Ultimate'' (Jolin Tsai album)
* ''Ultimate'' (Pet Shop Boys album)
*''Ultimate!'', an album by The Yardbirds
*'' The Ultimate (Bryan Adams Album)'', a compilati ...
'' on
ESPN
ESPN (originally an initialism for Entertainment and Sports Programming Network) is an American international basic cable sports channel owned by ESPN Inc., owned jointly by The Walt Disney Company (80%) and Hearst Communications (20%). The ...
. She has also been a model, appearing in
TV commercials
A television advertisement (also called a television commercial, TV commercial, commercial, spot, television spot, TV spot, advert, television advert, TV advert, television ad, TV ad or simply an ad) is a span of television programming produce ...
for No Nonsense brand pantyhose, and appeared on ''
National Bingo Night'' on June 1, 2007. She frequently acts as a color commentator on ESPN telecasts of nine-ball tournaments, usually along with her husband
Mitchell Laurance
Mitchell "Mitch" Laurance (born Mitchell Dycoff) is an American film and television actor and sports broadcaster.
Early life, family and education
Mitchell Dycoff was born in Queens, New York City, New York and raised in Hewlett, New York. He ha ...
. She has recently been featured on commercials featuring Dick's Pawn Shop in Myrtle Beach, SC.
Writing
She has authored three books: ''The Ewa Mataya Pool Guide (paperback,'' ), ''The Complete Idiot's Guide to Pool & Billiards (paperback,'' ), and ''Quick Start Guide to Pocket Billiards (paperback,'' '').'' She has also written monthly columns for ''Pool & Billiard'' magazine.
Personal life
In 1982, at the age of 17, she married the pool pro
Jimmy Mataya
Mataya started shooting pool at age 11. Within a few years was playing exhibitions with Willie Mosconi. He then won three consecutive Michigan State Championships in 1966, 1967 and 1968. At 21, he won the 1971 Los Angeles 9-Ball Championship. Mat ...
, fourteen years her senior, forming pool's first power couple. They later divorced, with Ewa retaining the surname Mataya, as she was already professionally well known by this name. They have a daughter, Nikki, born in 1985.
In 1994, she married actor
Mitch Laurance, later also pool commentator for
ESPN
ESPN (originally an initialism for Entertainment and Sports Programming Network) is an American international basic cable sports channel owned by ESPN Inc., owned jointly by The Walt Disney Company (80%) and Hearst Communications (20%). The ...
and twin brother of actor
Matthew Laurance
Matthew Laurance (born Matthew Dycoff) is an American film and television actor best known for starring as Ben Coleman in the Fox sitcom ''Duet'' and for his recurring role as Mel Silver on ''Beverly Hills, 90210''.
Early life, family and educ ...
.
References
External links
Her official web site"Ewa Mataya Laurance" profile at the ''
Internet Movie Database
IMDb (an abbreviation of Internet Movie Database) is an online database of information related to films, television series, home videos, video games, and streaming content online – including cast, production crew and personal biographies, ...
''
Ewa Laurance instruction column at poolmag.com
{{DEFAULTSORT:Laurance, Ewa Mataya
Swedish pool players
American pool players
Swedish emigrants to the United States
Trick shot artists
1964 births
Living people
Female pool players
People from Gävle
World champions in pool
American sportswomen
21st-century American women
Sportspeople from Gävleborg County