Female North Star refuses to play against anyone who is not biologically female amid a bitter row over transgender competitors

One of the world’s top-ranked female pool players is refusing to play against anyone who is not biologically female in professional competitions amid a bitter row over transgender competitors.

Alexandra Cunha, who is fifth in the international rankings for female pool players, took the stand after her sport’s rules were changed last week to allow men who identify as women to play in women’s tournaments that offer thousands in prize money.

She is one of dozens of professional players now standing up against the growing number of trans players playing professionally in women’s pool leagues.

They argue that the involvement of players who identify as female but were born male in women’s competitions is grossly unfair because they have a clear physical advantage over female competitors.

These benefits include possessing greater upper body strength, allowing them to make a more powerful initial ‘break’ of the balls, which can determine the direction of a game, the women say.

Additionally, trans players would be able to play games at a faster pace and have greater range when making shots due to their longer arm span.

The dispute is the latest disruption in an ongoing debate over whether transgender competitors should be allowed to compete in female categories, which has plagued numerous sports disciplines.

Ms Cunha, who lives in Britain but is captain of the Portuguese national women’s pool team, told the Mail on Sunday: ‘I’ve been playing pool since I was 17 and I’m fifth in the world rankings but I risk throwing everything away about this because I hate suffer from dishonesty.

“I recently played a transgender player and I was devastated when I lost.”

The 49-year-old also revealed that she wrote a letter this week to the head of a major tournament known as the International Rules Pool Tour, withdrawing from the event.

She told organizers: “As we live in a free world and I will stand up for what I believe is fair, I will not play against players who were not born female, regardless of whether it is a first round or a final.”

Ms Cunha said she had offered to continue with the tour if her rules were accepted, but was simply told her entry fee would be refunded.

The controversy now rocking the top levels of women’s professional pool began on October 24 when the sport’s international governing body, the World Eightball Pool Federation (WEPF), changed the rules on the participation of trans players in female tournaments.

Brighton & Hove Sea Serpents RFC take part in the 30th Anniversary Brighton & Hove Pride LGBTQ+ Community Parade on 6 August 2022 in Brighton

Initially, in August, as more and more trans players signed up to play in women’s tournaments, the WEPF had issued a joint statement with its main sponsor, the Ultimate Pool Group, stating that “these events will only be open to individuals born female . ‘

But just eight weeks later, there was a shocking reversal of this decision, which some female players said was made under pressure from legal threats from transgender competitors.

The WEPF and Ultimate Pool have released an update on the participation of transgender and non-binary players in competitions, stating that there would be no discrimination on the basis of gender identity.

They stipulated that they would implement a gender “self-identification policy” for competitors, but added that they reserved the right to test whether testosterone had been suppressed to the level required by the International Olympic Committee of trans athletes.

Within a week of this announcement, more than 60 professional female pool players joined forces via a WhatsApp support group to oppose the changes, the Mail on Sunday is told.

One player, Lynne Pincher, said: ‘When I heard the announcement last week I spent most of the day in tears – especially since the announcement came eight weeks earlier that it would finally be a fair pitch.

‘I am now concerned about the future of the women’s game. If we had eight trans players next year, they would probably be in the top eight.”

Last night Olympian Sharron Davies, an outspoken supporter of women’s still single-sex sport, branded the decision to allow trans players to play in female pool competitions as ‘heartbreaking’.

She said: “Pool is a male-dominated sport, like so many others, and these women have worked hard to get their own tour.

‘These organizations know that their game is sex-influenced. They know that women need their own tournaments to increase women’s participation and opportunities. They must show courage and decency and stand up for women.’