Frances Eames Noland will make snooker history this weekend when she becomes the first ever player to represent the United States in a World Ladies Billiards and Snooker (WLBS) event.

The WLBS is the world governing body of women's snooker and held its first World Championship back in 1976. It is the organization that gave rise in prominence to illustrious players such as former World Champions, Allison Fisher, Karen Corr and Kelly Fisher, all who went onto successful careers playing ladies pool in the United States.

Women's snooker has more recently been dominated though by England's Reanne Evans, who has won the world title on a record eleven occasions, and the current World and three-times Champion, Ng On Yee from Hong Kong.

This weekend of September 15 & 16 sees the start of the 2018-19 World Women's Snooker Tour, with the first event of the season being the UK Women's Championship taking place in the English city of Leeds.

Noland has been drawn into Group E where she will face competition from all English opponents in Maria Catalano, Maureen Rowland and Jessica Connolly. The top two players from each of the seven groups will advance into the round of 16, where Ng and Evans, as the two top-seeded players, will enter the Championship. Players who do not qualify from the groups will then be entered into the Challenge Cup tournament.

Noland is from Portland in Oregon, and before she moved to the United Kingdom to study she had never played snooker or pool before.

The 21-year-old told SnookerUSA.com: "I moved here two years ago for my MSc at the University of Oxford, and became interested in English pool from playing with friends. I would play everyday, after lunch and dinner for hours at a time.

"After only playing for one month, I went to trials and I was invited to play for Oxford at Nationals. I eventually went on to become captain for the Oxford Women's English Pool 1sts.

"After then watching my first World Snooker Championship and Women's World Snooker Championship, I fell in love and I knew that snooker was the game for me! I started playing as much as I possibly could."

Noland then went onto the SOAS (School of Oriental and African Studies), University of London.

"I became the captain of the SOAS Pool & Snooker Club, going to Nationals as the captain of the Snooker 1sts, and English Pool 1sts," she added. "My team even broke a record at Snooker Nationals this year, bringing the most women ever from a single university to the Nationals!"

Speaking about the opportunity to be the first ever American player to compete in a World Women's Snooker Tour event, she commented: "I'm so excited to have a chance to meet all of my snooker heroes at the LITEtask UK Women's Championship! And I hope to inspire more women to take up this great sport!"

Alan Morris, the Executive Director of the United States Snooker Association (USSA), said: "It is great news for snooker around the world to finally have a player representing the United States on the World Women's Snooker Tour, and it is such a delight to have Frances competing who shows so much enthusiasm for the sport."