BILLIARDS FOR WOMEN.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXVIII, Issue 21068, 30 December 1931, Page 3

BILLIARDS FOR WOMEN.

POPULARITY IN ENGLAND. INTERVIEW WITH A PLAYER. Women have invaded the realm of in recent years to a great degree, not only in the milder forms of athletics hut also in football, cricket and other more strenuous games. It is strange, however, that billiards, a game for which women' are as suitably adapted as men, should not have been taken up with greater enthusiasm. Miss H. lv. Levy, of England, who is visiting Auckland at present, in an interview yesterday stated that billiards had at last come into vogue with women in England, many women's club's having their own teams. An epoch-making event, in the history of the game is taking place at present there when, for the first time, an amateur championship tournament for women from all over England is being held. Each women's club sends in a team of four, and in all there are 41 entrants. Included among these is Mrs. McConnchy, wife of Mr. Clark MeConachy, formerly of New Zealand, the well-known billiards player, while another entrant is Lady Constance ChildePemherton, aged 62, "who has won many tournaments.

Miss Levy attributed women's former lack of enthusiasm for billiards to the fact that hitherto it had been considered a game solely for men. and it had occurred to nobody that the light arid delicate touch required for the game was an art in which women were naturally adept. In England, however, Miss Levy stated that women were doing all they could to promote the popularity of billiards with their own sex and were meeting with gratifying success. It was found that women adapted themselves readily to the game, playing it with skill and accuracy, and there seemed to be no reason why, in a short time, there should not be'a champion woman billiards player of the world as well as a man.

Among English" women's clubs which have taken up the game is the London Lyceum Club, of which Miss Levy is a member. fhis club has its own billiard room, but at present there are veryfew other womn's clubs in Kngland which possess their own tables. Miss Levy was taught billiards by her parents when she was a child and recalls the fact that she was so small that she had to have a footstool to reach the table. That Miss Levy's early training has stood her in good stead is shown by the fact that for three years she was champion of the London Lyceum Club team. She has not played billiards since she has been in Auckland, but enjoyed a game at the Grand Pacific Hotel in Suva during a recent visit there. "It is a treat to watch the grace and skill with which some women play billiards." Miss Levy said. " and 1 sincerely hope that New Zealand women will not be slow to follow the example of their own sex in England and take up this fascinating game."