REBECCA Kenna will battle some of the world's elite in her own county this weekend.

The Keighley-born player, ranked world number four, will take part in the LITEtask UK Women’s Snooker Championship at the Northern Snooker Centre, Kirkstall Lane, Leeds.

The tournament will include some of the sports biggest names including world number one Ng On-yee, as well as Reanne Evans and Maria Catalano.

As part of the event, the World Ladies Billiards & Snooker governing body, hosted a Women’s Snooker Day today, the idea behind the event is to increase the profile of women’s game, but give the women and girls of West Yorkshire the opportunity to learn how to play snooker with some of the finest female snooker players in the world.

Speaking about this weekend, Kenna said, “This the first time the UK Snooker Championship has been the first tournament in the season, it will be a hard event but it is my local event as I am based close to Leeds so I will be looking forward to giving it my best shot.

"I’ve put in a lot of practice in over the pre-season so I hope to see some improvement on my performances this season."

"Now is a good time to be involved in the women’s game, as we are starting to see the game grow in terms of the number of players coming into the sport.

"The introduction of more events such as Cue Zone means that women and girls can see us pick up a cue and play the game, hopefully this will mean more girls will get involved.

"I am pleased to see that we have another Cue Zone this week at Leeds Kirkgate Market that will give us more exposure which is great for the players and the sport.

"As well as being the ranked the current world number four on the tour, I have a business in Keighley called Cue Sports Yorkshire which as well as selling snooker equipment such as snooker cues, cue cases and chalk, I also conduct coaching lessons on site.

"I completed my level one coaching around 18 months ago and I have just completed the level two coaching qualification, which has seen an increase in customers to the business with people of all ages booking lessons."