Michelle Marinova is a Bulgarian former women's

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 who played on the circuit from 2002 until 2008, then later competed in 2013. She reached the quarter-finals of the World Women's Snooker Championship in 2005 and the final of the 2008 World Ladies Snooker Championship plate tournament. She was the top Bulgarian women's snooker player at the time.

Snooker career

After turning professional in 2002, Michelle first entered the

2003 World Women's Snooker Championship The 2003 Women's World Snooker Championship was a women's snooker tournament played in the United Kingdom in 2003. Defending champion Kelly Fisher beat Lisa Quick Lisa Quick (born 31 May 1975) is an English snooker and pool player. She won ...

but withdrew before playing her first match. In 2004 she was eliminated in Group B of the Connie Gough National, finishing third behind Lynette Horsburgh, then ranked number 1 in the world, and

Caroline Walch Caroline Walch (born 17 June 1961) is an English snooker player. She has won titles on the World Ladies Billiards and Snooker circuit and was runner-up in the 2000 World Women's Billiards Championship. Career Walch began her sporting career in ...

, before losing to Marianne Williams in the plate tournament. In the 2005 World Women's World Championship, she finished second in Group D and qualified for the quarter-finals ahead of veteran Jenny Poulter, before losing to eventual champion Reanne Evans 5-0, her best run in a main tournament event. After a mini-break from the game, she returned for the

2008 World Ladies Snooker Championship The 2008 World Ladies Snooker Championship was the 2008 edition of the World Women's Snooker Championship, first held in 1976, and was played at Cambridge Snooker Centre from 3 to 7 May. The tournament was won by Reanne Evans, who achieved her f ...

, finishing fourth in Group D and thus being eliminated from the main tournament. In the plate tournament, she defeated Gaye Jones 2-1, Eva Palmius 2-0 and Pam Wood 2-0 to reach the final. In the final she lost to Malgorzata Sikorska in a deciding frame 1-2. After leaving the tour, Michelle would play once more in 2013 at the Connie Gough Memorial, losing in her first match 3-1 to Martina Lumsden, then in the plate tournament losing to Poulter 2-0.

Personal life

Michelle was born in Sofia during the communist era. She attended Dudley Beauty College after leaving school. After quitting snooker, Michelle founded social media and forum site Pawer and created a community for dog-lovers. She has a keen interest in photography of Sofia.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Marinova, Michelle Bulgarian sportspeople Female snooker players Year of birth missing (living people) Living people