A biologically female pool player has beaten her trans opponent during a controversial national competition that was embroiled in a gender row scandal.
Welshwoman Kirsty-Lee Davies, a biological female, triumphed over Harriet Haynes – a transgender woman – at the latest Ultimate Pool Group tournament.
But the contest was marred by controversy after organisers allowed two transgender women to compete against 64 other biological females.
The trans competitors, Ms Haynes and Lucy Smith both reached the semi-finals facing off against each other, with Haynes winning.
And Haynes almost won the finals too, had it not been for Davies’ ‘phenomenal comeback’, who fought back from a 5-frames-to-2 disadvantage to win 6-5.
But the clash led to fierce criticism from female pool players, who branded the situation farcical and blasted competition bosses for allowing it.
Lynne Pinches, a professional pool player who refused to compete against Haynes at the Women’s Champions of Champions tournament last year, raged: ‘What an absolute embarrassment our sport has become.’
While round-the-world female sailing heroine Tracy Edwards also expressed her outrage at allowing two trans women to compete in the tournament.
‘Shame on @ultimatepool_ You are spineless wimps for letting this happen,’ she wrote on X, before adding, ‘#SaveWomensSports’.
The Women’s Rights Network (WRN) celebrated Davies for her victory, writing: ‘Despite the best efforts of the pool authorities to scupper her chances by allowing two males to compete in the female category.’
However, in a barbed critique, the WRN lashed out and said both Haynes and Smith would still pick up prize money for reaching the semi-final which ‘rightfully belongs to a woman’.
According to the rules of both the English Pool Association (EPA) and World Eightball Pool Federation (WEPF), the governing bodies of the Ultimate Pool Group, trans players are allowed to compete with absolutely no restrictions.
It means competitors born biologically male, but who later transition to become female, can play in the women’s contest.
According to their website, the current transgender bylaws for the EPA have been under review since December 2023.
However, campaigners have claimed that allowing transgender women compete against biological females in sport is unfair.
The row at Sunday’s tournament is the latest controversy to hit the sport.
After Pinches opted not to play Haynes in 2023, two more female players also protested and refused to play the trans player at a competition a week later.
Speaking after her decision to quit, Pinches told the Telegraph: ‘Walking out was the toughest thing I’ve ever had to do in the game in my life.
‘I have played 30 years and I’ve never even conceded so much as a frame, never mind a match. This was only my fourth final ever but the trophy or money meant nothing to me without fairness, and that’s what I said to the tournament director afterwards.’
‘I don’t care about the money or the title or the trophy. I care about fairness. If they hadn’t done that U-turn, we wouldn’t be here now. We were all so elated when they originally said they were going to have a strict category for biological females.’
Pinches was quick to add that her withdrawal was not done with intention of causing hurt to the transgender community, nor to embarrass anyone, but that she felt women were being humiliated by having to face trans athletes.
Guidance from the EPA dictates that trans athletes should be allowed to play in informal matches and pool competitions, facing no further verification of their sex than any other players.
Part of Pinches’ frustration stems from the fact that pool players were given assurances that non-binary and transgender players would not play against females, only for the World Eightball Pool Federation and Ultimate Pool Group to then U-turn on the move.
Pool is the latest sport to be marred by controversy over trans women competing against biologically born females, following similar instances in swimming, athletics and cycling.
Sharron Davies, who has campaigned for women’s sport since retiring from her swimming career, said that pool was another example of a sport failing to put safety and fairness first, adding: ‘it’s simply sex discrimination’.
‘It’s simply sex discrimination after decades of women’s sport being treated badly. It’s having a huge effect on the mental health of female sports women who are being told by their sports federations their right to fair sport just doesn’t matter,’ she told Telegraph sport back in 2023.
‘I’m keen to ask Governments to do more than just ask NGBs to do the right thing then be ignored. It’s time for sports women to take action together and also for Government to remove UK sport funding from those sports that just don’t care about their female athletes.’
Davies has previously voiced her opinion that transgender athletes are making swimming ‘atrociously unfair’, and that ‘young girls must start races with a known disadvantage’.
