BLACKPOOL snooker star Lynette Horsburgh didn't need her dad urging her to get her skates on as she practised as a youngster...

She already had them on -- so she could see over the edge of the table!

Lynette doesn't have that problem now although she is still barely over 5ft tall and high heels certainly help her to reach the tricky middle-of-the-table shots.

She was so small as a youngster she reckons she played half the shots with the rest and the other half with the spider! It wasn't surprising that she became expert with both of them.

Tomorrow (Friday) is another big day for Lynette, a journalist for the BBC in Blackburn, for she is attending the World Snooker Association awards in London. She has been nominated for the Lady Player of the Year award where she is opposed by Kelly Fisher and Lisa Quick.

"I'm up against it," she said. "Lisa should win. She beat me in the World Ladies' Championship final and took the Regal Welsh title. She deserves to win."

Lynette hasn't had much time to practise since joining the BBC early in the summer but she is hoping to get back to her best with some serious matches on the Fylde this autumn.

She started playing when she was just eight years old. Her dad, a keen snooker fan, bought a small table and fired her enthusiasm.

She remembers vividly the first time he took her to Blackpool's Commonwealth Club which was a great venue for snooker and pool a few years back. "Steve Davis was playing on the next table! He was my hero, my idol. I couldn't hit a ball, I was convinced he was watching every shot I played. It was really embarrassing."

Highlight of her career was beating Kelly Fisher to win last year's Regal Welsh title. In 1999 she won the British Open and the Ladies Grand Prix. Best performance in the World Championships was this year's runner-up spot but she is determined to do better next year.

Her highest break is 135 and she has appeared on BBC's Big Break three times. She was once banned from wearing a Vivienne Westwood waistcoat in the Home internationals and says one of her most embarrassing moments was when she arrived for the finals of the British Open only to realise she'd forgotten her cue.

She was such an expert with the rest and the spider that one of her opponents suggested she chalked up and played with one of them!