One of the regular players at the Pyramid Club at West Street, Bourne, over the past few years was Karen Corr, a dentist's daughter from Bourne, who won the Women's World Snooker Championships in London in 1990 when she was only 21. Karen was born on 10th November 1969 at Ballymoney, Northern Ireland, and later lived near Maghera, County Derry. Her parents moved to England when she was eight years old and set up home in Bourne in 1982 where her father, Andrew Corr, worked as a dentist. She attended Bourne Secondary School [now the Robert Manning Technical College] where she indulged her love of sport, participating in such pursuits as swimming, BMX biking and even football, but then at the age of 14 she said: "I want to play snooker." She began her first games at the Pyramid Club and later with her father at their home in North Road but eventually surpassed him with her prowess and was soon competing in local tournaments and when she was only 15, entered her first women's event at Leicester. By the time she was 17, she was practising in her spare time while working as a receptionist and dental assistant at her father's surgery in West Street and most evenings and weekends, she could be found at the Pyramid Club although later she also played at the Court Snooker Club in Peterborough where she trained with Markham Wildman, the 1984 professional billiards champion. By 1987, she had her own snooker room at home, built by her brother Brian, so that she need not travel so much to practice. The dedication paid off and in 1986, she won the ladies' singles title in the Spalding and District League and the ladies' title at the Court Snooker Club in Peterborough. She also reached the finals of the World Ladies' Billiards and Snooker Association in Grimsby but was narrowly beaten by Julie Hayhurst. In March 1990, Karen added a new chapter to the record books of the Spalding and District Snooker and Billiards League by becoming the first woman to be awarded their prestigious trophy for the individual snooker scratch championship, winning the match by four frames to one.
A series of top class tournaments followed both in Britain and abroad and in 1989 she was named as the Sunday Times Sportswoman of the Year and in April 1990 she went on to win the Southern Ladies Championship at Bournemouth. Karen had finally become a big name on the world snooker scene, crowned by her £10,000 world title win in November 1990, the day after her 21st birthday, and continued to win additional world titles in 1991, 1995 and 1997. Prize funds from ladies snooker were never large enough to live on and Karen worked at various jobs to support herself. including barmaid, in order that she could continue playing professionally but also spent many hours practising on a table at the home of Arthur Bates at Morton, near Bourne, between 1994-98. The prominent Bourne sportsman and administrator, Terry Bates, was also influential in her life, giving encouragement and advice and helping to obtain sponsorship with Bourne Services Group where she worked for a time. The company provided support and sponsorship during 1997 and in the same year Karen was invited to participate in an exhibition tour throughout Australia and New Zealand. During this period, she decided to move to the United States where she started playing pool and soon achieved national and then international status by winning tournaments in Japan and a silver medal at the World Championships in 2002. She is now resident in Philadelphia and most days will find her at the Family Recreation Centre in Feasterville where she works continually learning more about the game. In the United States, Karen is former World No 1 Ranking, winner of 18 Women's Professional Billiards Association events and runner up in four world title tournaments. Many of her matches are now screened on Sky Television in Europe and in other countries around the world. But Karen has never forgotten Bourne and returns often to visit family and friends. Her mother Mrs Diane Corr lives here and the town is also home to her brother Brian and his wife Liz and their children Liam and Laura.
WRITTEN SEPTEMBER 2005 See also The Pyramid Club
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