Lynne Pinches, who forfeited a tournament final on Sunday because she refused to face her trans opponent, has claimed she did so out of ‘fairness’, as her son hails her as ‘the champ’.
Pinches ceded the final of the Women’s Champions of Champions pool tournament over the weekend in Denbighshire, Wales, where she was due to play Harriet Haynes.
She shook hands, packed and left
Pinches took her lag shot to officially start the encounter, but soon after shook hands with Haynes and the referee, packed her cue away, and left the arena – a Pontins in Prestatyn.
Haynes was left surprised but ultimately took the crown, with Pinches finishing the runner-up as a result of her decision, although her son has been quick to praise her decision.
She said in her statement..
Since her bold statement to retire from what was just her fourth ever final, Pinches has spoken out on her decision, claiming that she made a statement on the fairness of allowing transgender athletes to compete against natal females.
‘Walking out was the toughest thing I’ve ever had to do in the game in my life,’ she told the Telegraph.
It was her fourth final ever
‘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.’
‘It was not to hurt trans-community’
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 English Pool Association (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 this last month.
