Karen Corr


Karen Corr is a Northern Irish professional pool and former snooker and English billiards player. She began entering women's snooker tournaments at age 15 and went on to win the World Women's Snooker Championship three times and the World Women's Billiards Championship twice. In 1998, she moved to the United States to play pool professionally. She has won numerous tournaments and has been ranked number one on the WPBA Tour. She was inducted into the BCA Hall of Fame in 2012.

Early life

Corr was born on 10 November 1969 in Ballymoney, Northern Ireland and spent her early childhood near Maghera. When she was 8 years old, her family moved to England. She loved watching snooker matches on television and joined a snooker club at the age of 14 with her father and her brother. Her friends in Bourne saw that she had exceptional snooker skills and encouraged her to play in tournaments.

Snooker and pool career

At the age of 15, she entered her first tournament in Leicester. She continued to play in tournaments and rapidly became a top player on the women's tour. On the day after her 21st birthday, Corr won her first Women's World Snooker Championship. She would go on to repeat that feat in 1995 and 1997. She also won the World Women's Billiards Championship in 1998 and 1999.
A recession in the mid-1990s and increased restrictions on tobacco sponsorship caused prize funds to rapidly decrease for snooker events outside the World Championship. This forced Corr to look elsewhere for profitable tournament play. Fellow snooker player Julie Kelly told her about the WPBA Tour in America. Corr moved to the U.S. in 1998 to see how well she could play pool. After winning ten consecutive qualifying events, she was able to compete in the professional WPBA events.
By the end of 1998, Corr was ranked #24. At the end of 1999, she was ranked # 4. By the end of 2000, she was ranked 2nd in the world.
Corr won her first WPBA Classic Tour title, "The 2000 Cuetec Cues Players Championship" in Valley Forge, Pennsylvania. She completed that year with two more Classic tour titles. She also won the "All Japan Championship" held in Osaka, Japan. She placed second in the "WPA Women's World Championship" and in the "UCC World Ladies Championship" held in Tokyo, Japan.
In 2001, she became the first person to win every WPBA Classic tour event in the same season since they began. She won the silver medal at the World Games and placed 2nd at the World Championships. Before 2001 ended, Corr found herself at the top, the No. 1 ranked player in the World and remained there for 2 years.
Since then, she has been a leading player in women's pool. The crowning achievement of her career came on 26 October 2012, when Corr was formally inducted into the Greatest Player wing of the BCA Hall of Fame. Her Hall of Fame induction announcement stated "her quick rise to the top and her consistent dominance on American soil has earned her the only spot in this year's BCA Hall of Fame class."
She has been runner-up at the World 9-ball Championship four times.

Titles and achievements

Snooker

OutcomeNo.YearChampionshipOpponentScoreRef.
Winner11990Women's World Snooker ChampionshipStacey Hillyard7–4
Runner-up21991Women's World Snooker ChampionshipAllison Fisher2–8
Winner31994WLBSA Halstead Ladies ClassicAllison Fisher3–2
Winner41994WLBSA Pontins Spring BowlLisa Quick4–1
Winner51995Women's World Snooker ChampionshipKim Shaw6–3
Winner61995WLBSA Pontins British LadiesAnn-Marie Farren4–1
Winner71995WLBSA West Norwood OpenKelly Fisher3–1
Winner81996WLBSA Academy Fork LiftKelly Fisher4–2
Winner91996WLBSA Connie Gough MemorialKim Shaw3–2
Winner101996WLBSA James Brooks ClassicKelly Fisher3–0
Winner111997Women's World Snooker ChampionshipKelly Fisher6–3
Winner121997WLBSA Barratts Club NationalKelly Fisher3–2
Winner131997WLBSA Ladies NationalKelly Fisher4–2
Winner141997WLBSA UK ChampionshipLynette Horsburgh4–3
Winner151997WLBSA Pontins UK Championship
Winner161997WLBSA Scottish MastersKelly Fisher4–2
Runner-up171998Women's World Snooker ChampionshipKelly Fisher0–5
Runner-up181999Women's World Snooker ChampionshipKelly Fisher2–4

Pool