Cape Town - A pool player from Strandfontein is making waves on the international stage after recently achieving a historic milestone in artistic pool.
Joy Willenberg, 37, made history by becoming the first woman to win a discipline at the 2024 WPA World Artistic Blackball Pool Championship held in Bridlington, UK.
She secured the championship place in the stroke shot discipline, marking a significant achievement for women in the sport.
Artistic pool is a unique variation of the game that involves trick shots, fancy shots, and skill shot challenges, setting it apart from traditional pool.
The cue sport features eight distinct disciplines, each requiring players to execute five shots.
These are trick and fancy, special arts, draw, follow, bank/kick, stroke, jump, and massé.
“I feel pretty excited. It is something that I didn’t expect to win, a discipline, because it’s something new to everyone,” she said.
“I played it once before where we could try the shots, and it was interesting so I entered without any expectation.”
Willenberg’s journey in pool started years ago when she reached her first national championships in Bloemfontein in 2007.
Since then, she has participated in various national and international competitions, including the Snooker World Championships.
“My journey has sort of been a bit of everything and I have probably been to 12 different countries through different cue sports,” she said.
“What makes this one unique is that it is something different, where there are hardly any females playing the artistic pool. There are opportunities for females, it’s not only males that can do this.”
Her global experiences have undoubtedly played a role in her recent success.
Willenberg has already earned accolades, including being part of the South African women’s team that won the World 8-ball Women’s Team Championship in 2019 in Blackpool.
She also clinched the gold medal in the women’s blackball event at the 2021 Arnold Classic, which took place at Gold Reef City in Johannesburg, and earlier this year, she secured the Blackball South Africa singles title at the Suncoast Casino in Durban.
When she isn’t concentrating on the white ball, she dedicates her time to managing her clients at her branding firm.
Willenberg said while the sport is expanding, the ongoing issue of insufficient funding remains a significant concern for major events.
“Had there been funding or sponsors I could have gone to two tournaments held in Doha and Morocco.
“If you do have that funding and backing, your performance will automatically be better,” she said.