[3] She began playing snooker in working men's clubs when she was 15 and received coaching from her first cousin, professional player Ronnie O'Sullivan.

[6][7] In 2003, she ended Kelly Fisher's 69-match, two-year winning streak on the women's tour by defeating her 3–1 in the quarter-finals of the East Anglian Open.

[12] Her form declined after 2018, which she attributed to her father's death in that year, commenting in 2022 that "it’s been a constant struggle since then" and saying she had been "finding it difficult to practice, just feeling I was getting nothing out of it.

"[13] In May 2022, she became the first woman to compete in the final stages of the World Seniors Championship at the Crucible Theatre, having reached the eligible age of 40 in February of that year.

[18][19] However, Jason Ferguson, chairman of the World Professional Billiards and Snooker Association, responded that no such ban would be implemented, saying: "We have taken sufficient medical advice to be very satisfied that our policy is right for the current climate.