REBECCA Kenna says she will try to keep her nerves in check as she gears up to play at the home of snooker for the first time.

The world number three from Keighley is one of four players who will take part in the inaugural Women's Tour Championship, held at the Crucible Theatre, Sheffield, on Saturday, August 17, held between 10am and 1pm.

The invitational event will see the top four of the women's games clash as women’s snooker returns to the spiritual home of the sport for the first time in 16 years.

Kenna will be playing alongside World number one at 12-time world women’s champion Reanne Evans, Ng On Yee and Nutcharut Wongharuthai in the curtain-raiser for the new season.

Kenna says it will be a thrill for her to play at the Crucible for the first time and says she is the least experienced of the four players at competing at such a big stage.

She said: "I will try not to be nervous.

"Never would I have imagined that I would play at The Crucible. I will try to hold my nervous.

"The Crucible is the pinnacle of where we want to be.

"This will definitely be the biggest crowd that have watched us play. I will just try to play it as a normal game. I will try to relax as much as I can.

"I don't know who I am playing yet. It's a new thing. The other players have a lot of experience.

"I just need to make a good show of myself there.

"It is a way of trying to get women players into The Crucible. It is the first event of the new season.

"It is just an invitational event, it is not a ranking one. The first ranking event of the new season is the UK Women's Championships in September.

"There was no break from the game for me as I am still running my shop.

"Women have not played at The Crucible for 16 years, it's about time it got shown again. It is a great way to get more women involved in the game and get them watching it more. There will hopefully be plenty of interest in it.

"The Women's tour is getting bigger and bigger each year. We need more sponsorship though.

"Snooker is looking to catch up with a lot of other sports, like football and cricket. It's about time it did.

Kenna added there would be a Keighley invasion on Sheffield for the event, as she takes an army of supporters to the home of snooker.

She said: "I have got family and friends coming to watch me. It would be great if more people from my home town could come and support me too.

"It is a pretty huge thing, so I'm hoping to get as many supporters there as I can."

Meanwhile, Kenna says she hopes for a "good result" and to be re-instated to play in the Crosshills & District Snooker League after she was prevented from playing earlier this year in two fixtures due to some clubs in Keighley operating a "men-only" policy. The league is set to raise the issue at its annual general meeting.

In the meantime Kenna has continued to train on her own table at her Cue Sports Yorkshire shop in South Street, Keighley, where she also coaches youngsters.

Tickets are available for £1.47 for the Women's Tour Championship when purchased with tickets for another full session of the ROKiT World Seniors Snooker Championship which runs from August 15 to 18.

Go to sheffieldtheatres.co.uk/events/snooker-seniors to buy tickets.

World Women's Snooker Tour season 2019-20 (scheduled): August 17: Women's Tour Championship - Sheffield; September 14-15: UK Women’s Championship – Leeds; October 17-20: Australian Women’s Open – Sydney; November 23-24

Eden Women’s Masters – Venue TBC, England; January 31 February 2, 2020: Belgian Women’s Open – Bruges; April 3-6: Festival of Women’s Snooker – Leeds; June 2020 TBC: World Women’s Snooker Championship – Bangkok, Thailand.