0:00
It's not slightly unfair, it's very unfair. Pool is a sex-affected sport, which means that males have advantages, physical advantages compared to females
0:10
And therefore, you must have a female-only category in order for females to take part and excel in this sport fairly
0:19
The physical advantages males have include they are on average taller, they have longer arms and legs so they can reach across the table more easily
0:28
They have more power so they can get more power behind the break shot, which is the most important shot of the whole game
0:35
So this is a sex affected sport and therefore a female category is necessary
0:40
If you allow males into the female category, Harriet Haynes is male, then it ceases to be the female category and becomes a mixed sex category
0:49
So, yes, this federation have done the right thing to say females only in the female category
0:55
But unfortunately, this selfish, entitled man is suing them. And, you know, I hope they win
1:02
And this case will be very important for the Equality Act, which allows single sex sport in sex affected sports of which pool is one
1:11
To what extent, I mean, you mentioned there's an advantage through being a man, but in pool
1:18
is it quite slight compared to football or cricket or tennis that you are in a relatively
1:24
small space and strength isn't everything in pool, is it? It's more accuracy
1:29
Well Dr Emma Hilton is giving chapter and verse on the advantages that males have over females in pool at the court case going on But whether or not the sex differences in any particular sport are great or small doesn really matter
1:48
If they exist, however small, then there must be a female category
1:52
You know, the advantage in sports varies. So in my sport running, it's roughly 10 percent at elite level
1:59
in punching power, it's 162%. But because running is a smaller percentage, you can't say
2:06
oh, well, it's only a small percentage, let's get rid of the female category. If there is any sex difference between males and females, then you must have a female category
2:16
And I mean, what Harriet Haynes and his team are effectively calling for is the end of women's pool
2:22
And I wish they would stop arguing about, you know, gender reassignment discrimination and make
2:28
the case for ending women's pool, which is what they want. All right. Well, Mara, thank you very much. I have to confess, I agree with every word
2:35
you've said and I'm very grateful to you for joining me. But we have got a statement. So
2:40
when previously asked about the issue, Harriet Haynes, who is a man calling himself Harriet
2:44
hit back at the idea that men have an advantage, saying, my success in pool in general is down
2:49
to my efforts, whether in the women's section or open section, coaching helped me progress
2:53
And at his court hearing, Haynes submitted expert evidence to support his case, including
2:58
from an American professor who argues that as long as a player could break above a certain speed
3:03
something achievable by both sexes, there was no inherent advantage gained by higher Q velocity
3:09
Well, that's all very interesting. Thank you again to Mara
