Pool of glory — the Tasneem Solomons story, from Cape Town to Blackpool and beyond

World Eightball pool champion Tasneem Solomons in action at the World Championships in Blackpool, England. (Photo: supplied)

By S’bo Gyre

23 Jan 2025

South Africa’s first World Eightball pool champion opens up about her ascent and starring in SuperSport’s Real World Champions campaign.

A deafening silence engulfed the arena in Blackpool, England. It had boiled down to the last frame and with three balls left to sink to claim a World Eightball Pool Federation World Eightball Championship.

Wales’s Kirsty-Lee Davies faltered. It meant South African Tasneem Solomons had one chance to claim the title.

pool tasneem solomons world champ World Eightball pool champion Tasneem Solomons in action at the World Championships in Blackpool, England. (Photo: Supplied)

Seven sunken balls later she strategically placed her cue, as she had many times growing up, and lined her greatest shot at immortality. As the black ball kissed either side of the hole, fate teased Solomons one last time, until, finally, the black ball sank. Tasneem Solomons was a world champion!

Her riveting path to the title is cinematically told in her episode of SuperSport’s mini-series, Real World Champions, a campaign that highlights ordinary South Africans who have overcome challenging circumstances to become heroes in their respective sporting codes – people who have used sport to impact their lives and those in their community.

Solomons’ episode, which is available on SuperSport’s YouTube channel and will premier on SuperSport Variety 4 on Monday, 6 February 2025, retells her moment of triumph.

However, though her success might seem sudden, it took years for her to earn her world title and the nickname, “The Legend Slayer”.

“I was emotional because it was one of my life goals and I’ve been playing for 20 years of hard work and struggle,” she recounts. “But it was all worth it.”

Tough path

You are as likely to have ease finding a communal tap in the vicinity as you are a pool table in Belville. It should come as no surprise that South Africa’s first World Eightball Pool Champion now calls Cape Town’s modest suburb home.

All things considered, the road to these greener pastures wasn’t always filled with lush pathways … thorny encounters with systemic swamps and financial deserts shaped this history-maker.

The third of nine children, Tasneem was raised in Bonteheuwel and serendipitously born to a home of avid pool players.

“My second eldest sister, Fatima, started to play before me,” she recalls. “There was a tuckshop attached to the house; we had two pool tables. I would stand on the crate and teach myself. She was the first lady to make the junior Springbok team, and my dad used to coach us. I was like, ‘I want to play’, and I wanted to be even better than my sister.”

The healthy competition among the siblings would breed a pool dynasty comparable only to the Williams sisters in tennis. At the time of writing, Fatima and Tasneem held doubles and speedball records at Nationals Black Ball and Eight Ball.

If Clegane Bowl got Game of Thrones fans’ hearts racing, who knows what Solomons Bowl would do to the sisters’ hometown of Bonteheuwel?

“When it all started, we used to walk all the way from the beginning of Bonteheuwel to Bishop Lavis to Valhalla Park with the pool cue and play home and away.

“It started from a young age when I began playing the game, the community was there supporting me. So that’s why when I came back – that was my first stop.”

A community dear to Tasneem’s heart, the mild-mannered champion knew the greatest fulfilment would come from celebrating with those who cooked for her and her peers as she sharpened her skills as a youngster.

“Support, especially in pool, plays a very big role because you feed off the energy that your supporters are giving you,” she says.

Her most significant support system these days comes from her partner Chrizelle Franken. Whenever she’s in attendance, Chrizelle’s is the only voice that pierces through as she blocks out the noise, squarely focused on the pool table, a state she calls “Tasneem’s World”.

“It’s amazing to sit there and watch her play. I’ve been there through all the struggles. It’s that constant motivating her and at the end of the day it shows. I live in that moment when I sit, and I watch her games. It’s inspiring,” says Franken.

Funding challenges

It comes as no surprise that those closest to her are inspired by her feats. Pool is a widely unrecognised and uncelebrated, let alone funded sport in South Africa. Challenges of sponsorship and general support deepen the pressures for those who compete at Tasneem’s level – often fully funding her trips to compete and represent South Africa abroad.

Whereas her counterparts can focus solely on the game, Tasneem relies on raffles, selling biscuits and alcohol to gather funds to compete – let alone make a living.

“Remember the players on the other side – they get paid to play,” Solomons says. “They have coaches whilst we don’t. I need to train myself. I need to look for funding. I need to pay for literally everything.

“So, you go with all that struggle with money for three or four days and I’m there for 16 days. So, through all that, I put that behind me. I’m going for that title and it’s tough – it’s not easy.”

In fact, she was unable to attend the tournament in 2023 for funding reasons, which led to depression, compounded by the fact that just the year before, she had made a promising quarterfinal run.

The role of gender discrimination makes it that much harder to take because it compounds the fact that her setbacks have nothing to do with her actual skill.

“What is the difference? I go represent our country, like the Springboks and Bafana (Bafana) but the recognition they get and that I get – what makes me so different?” she asks.

“It’s always a fight and I’m starting to get a little fed up. What more do I still need to prove? We need to get the same treatment.

“I struggle with funding because a lot of sponsors think men stand a (better) chance at winning than women. You go through, you prove yourself, but you still must fight. So, I’m all about women power.”

But one thing I can deduce about the Legend Slayer is that she is not one to accept the role of a victim – especially to circumstance. Her nickname is derived from her defeating four world champions en route from the crates in Bonteheuwel to the podium in Blackpool.

Two decades in, and Tasneem has only just begun. This is most definitely the start. DM

The Real World Champions series has showcased two other heroes, self-taught painter Ricollin Moodley and Olympic photographer Johann Meintjes. The series will showcase more odds-defying South Africans, with each episode premiering on SuperSport’s YouTube channel, on SuperSport Variety 4 (DStv Channel 209) and DStv CatchUp. The next episode airs on 27 January 2025 at 19:00.

Africa’s biggest broadcaster is looking for more Real World Champion stories like Tasneem’s to platform and celebrate. Viewers are encouraged to identify and share stories of Real World Champions within their communities by detailing in an email no longer than 500 words to [email protected] why their proposed candidate deserves to be profiled by SuperSport, Your World of Champions.

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Tough path

Funding challenges