AT the age of 45, Chelmsford’s top woman snooker player has a renewed hunger for the game and has warned the young girls on the circuit “I’m not taking any prisoners”.

Chris Sharpe

Chris “don’t call me Christine” Sharpe was encouraged by the number of youngsters who made their debuts at the World Ladies Billiards & Snooker Association UK Championships in Derbyshire.

The world No 5, known on the circuit as ‘Queen of the Plate’ after her tendency to make a first-round exit but then do well in the secondary competition, went down 3-1 to Suzie Opacic (Hampshire) – in the first round.

Sharpe, who partnered Pam Wood to the 2007 world doubles title in Cambridge earlier this year, lost 2-0 in the Plate to her Newcastle teammate. And in the Seniors final she lost 2-1 to Jenny Poulter (Maidstone).

"Ali Carter first started playing at our club and he’s top 16 now," she said. "So I’m used to young people coming along and beating me, I ain’t got a problem with that.”

The previous day, Sharpe was edged out in a fifth-frame decider by Emma Bonney (Portsmouth) in the £1,200 Wytech Masters quarter-finals, the first WLBSA event of the season at the North East Derbyshire Snooker Centre, Clay Cross.

“[The young girls] are great,” she said. “I think it’s really good for the game. We need some young blood."

But does Sharpe still have the killer instinct when she is up against a nervous 10-year-old girl making her tournament debut?

“Oh, yes,” she said. “If they’re there to play, they’re there to be beaten. I don’t like losing. I’m not taking any prisoners. I get frustrated a bit when I don’t do what I’m trying to do.”

The former England international is a 20-year veteran of the ladies circuit.

“I got knocked out in the first round for years and years,” she said. “I stopped for a while but got back into it a few years ago with renewed vigour and I’ve been coming back ever since.

"After 20 years of [husband] Brian telling me what to do, I’ve suddenly for some reason started to listen to him. My cue action has changed and so everything is a bit hit-and-miss at the moment. But to improve you’ve got to go down to go back up again.”

Sharpe, who has a top tournament break of 64, has her own full-sized table at home to practise on after a hard day’s work at the HSBC. She once played Alex ‘Hurricane’ Higgins in an exhibition match in Braintree and is a two-time Essex Ladies champion

Picture: Kevin Legg