Vera Selby

MBE Mbe may refer to: * Mbé, a town in the Republic of the Congo * Mbe Mountains Community Forest, in Nigeria * Mbe language, a language of Nigeria * Mbe' language, language of Cameroon * ''mbe'', ISO 639 code for the extinct Molala language Molal ...

(born 13 March 1930) is 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 ...

former snooker and

English billiards English billiards, called simply billiards in the United Kingdom and in many former British colonies, is a cue sport that combines the aspects of carom billiards and pool. Two (one white and one yellow) and a red are used. Each player or team ...

player. She won the Women's World Open Championship twice, in both

1976 Events January * January 3 – The International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights enters into force. * January 5 – The Pol Pot regime proclaims a new constitution for Democratic Kampuchea. * January 11 – The 1976 ...

and 1981. She was also the Women's Billiards champion from 1970 to 1978.

Career

Selby was introduced to billiards as a six-year-old. Her uncle had a table in the cellar of his home in Newcastle and she would sit and watch. At the age of 36, she was seen playing by former British amateur billiards and snooker champion Alf Nolan, who started coaching her. In

she became the first ever women's world champion, claiming the title by beating Muriel Hazeldine 4–0 in the final, which was held in

Middlesbrough Middlesbrough ( ) is a town on the southern bank of the River Tees in North Yorkshire, England. It is near the North York Moors national park. It is the namesake and main town of its local borough council area. Until the early 1800s, the a ...

.History
Women's World Snooker. Retrieved 21 July 2019. Her second title in 1981 came after a 3–0 defeat of

Mandy Fisher Mandy Fisher (born in April 1962) is an English former professional snooker player and a World Women's Snooker Championship winner in 1984. Fisher founded the World Ladies Billiards and Snooker Association (now known as World Women's Snooker) ...

in the final.World Champions
Women's World Snooker. Retrieved 21 July 2019. At 51, her success made her the oldest woman world champion in any sport. Selby became a television commentator for snooker, is a qualified referee, and served as chairman of the North East Billiards and Snooker Association. She won a lifetime achievement award for her services to billiards in 2014. In 2009 Selby became the Master of the 400-year-old Fellmongers’ Guild in Richmond, as the first female Master in its history. In 2016, she was awarded the

, for services to sport. At the age of 85, she was still playing cue sports regularly.

Personal life

She was born in

Richmond, North Yorkshire Richmond is a market town and civil parish in North Yorkshire, England, and the administrative centre of the district of Richmondshire. Historically in the North Riding of Yorkshire, it is from the county town of Northallerton and situated on ...

Richmond, where her father was manager of the Freeman, Hardy and Willis shop. Selby studied art and design at

Leeds University , mottoeng = And knowledge will be increased , established = 1831 – Leeds School of Medicine1874 – Yorkshire College of Science1884 - Yorkshire College1887 – affiliated to the federal Victoria University1904 – University of Leeds , ...

,Meetings Archive 2012
Soroptomist International. Retrieved 21 July 2019. before becoming a senior art, textile and dress designer lecturer at the former Newcastle Polytechnic, before taking early retirement at 53.

Titles and achievements

Snooker Billiards

Notes

References

External links

Reanne Evans and Vera Selby on Ladies Day (2016)
YouTube video. {{DEFAULTSORT:Selby, Vera 1930 births Living people English snooker players Female snooker players English players of English billiards Female players of English billiards People from Richmond, North Yorkshire Alumni of the University of Leeds Academics of Northumbria University