Born | Sudbury, Ontario |
---|---|
Died | 8 July 2011 (aged 53)[1] |
Sport country | Canada |
Natalie Stelmach (died on 8 July 2011) was a Canadian snooker player. She was runner-up in the 1984 Amateur World Women's Snooker Championship.
Biography
Stelmach started playing in 1973, at a newly established family recreation centre. The owner, Gabe Tarini, introduced Stelmach to snooker and later became her coach.[2]
At the age of 16, Stelmach was one of two Canadian entrants to the 1976 Women's World Open, held in England.[3] She lost in her first match.
According to an article in Maclean's magazine in April 1979, Stelmach had never lost a match to another woman in Canada. She had won the Canadian national title each of the four times that it had been staged.[2]
In April 1981, Stelmach made the first half century by a woman in competition, on the way to winning her sixth Canadian Open title.[4] She has a claim to be the first woman to make a century break, scoring a 109 in 1977.[5]
Also in 1981, Stelmach and her playing partner Cliff Thorburn won the World Mixed Pairs Championship. They beat Vera Selby and John Virgo on total points scored, 262-239 in the final, after beating Grace Cayley and Tony Meo 267-200 in the semi-final.[4][6]
Stelmach reached the final of the 1984 Amateur World Women's Snooker Championship, defeating Lynette Horsburgh 3-0, Maggie Beer 3-1, Gaye Jones 4-0 and then Caroline Walch 4-0. She lost in the final 1-4 to the 15 year old Stacey Hillyard.
Titles and achievements
- Canadian Open Women's Champion 1976
- Canadian Open Women's Champion 1977
- Canadian Open Women's Champion 1978
- Canadian Open Women's Champion 1979
- Canadian Open Women's Champion 1980
- Canadian Open Women's Champion 1981[7]
- 1981 World Mixed Pairs Championship (with Cliff Thorburn)
- 1984 Amateur World Women's Snooker Championship runner-up.[8]
References
- ^ "Natalie Stelmach Obituary". yourlifemoments.ca. Retrieved 1 September 2019.
- ^ a b Pagnucco, Frank (9 April 1979). "She banks, she pockets, she snookers her foes". Macleans. Archived from the original on 30 August 2019. Retrieved 31 August 2019.
- ^ Everton, Clive (6 April 1976). "Women Take Cue". The Guardian. p.27 – via ProQuest Historical Newspapers: The Guardian and The Observer. Retrieved 31 August 2019.
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: CS1 maint: location (link) - ^ a b Everton, Clive (8 May 1981). "Davis suffers mixed fortunes: Snooker". The Guardian. p.25 – via ProQuest Historical Newspapers: The Guardian and The Observer. Retrieved 30 August 2019.
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: CS1 maint: location (link) - ^ Graham Duncan. "Billiards". The Canadian Encyclopedia. Retrieved 11 September 2019.
- ^ Everton, Clive (9 May 1981). "Sports In Brief". The Guardian. p.23 – via ProQuest Historical Newspapers: The Guardian and The Observer. Retrieved 30 August 2019.
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: CS1 maint: location (link) - ^ Everton, Clive (1985). Guinness Snooker – The Records. Guinness Superlatives Ltd. p. 154–156. ISBN 0851124488.
- ^ "World Champions". womenssnooker.com. World Women's Snooker Collection. Archived from the original on 18 August 2019. Retrieved 30 August 2019.