Two men competed in a UK women's pool final. And guess what? A man won!

Over the weekend, two men in the UK faced off in the finals of a women’s pool tournament.

Harriet Haynes and Lucy Smith went up against each other in the Ultimate Pool Women’s Pro Series Event 2 at Robin Park Leisure Centre in Wigan.

Both competitors defeated four female opponents each to get to the championship bout.

The rules of the English Pool Association and World Eightball Pool Federation (WEPF) state that men are allowed to compete in the women’s division with zero restrictions.

To those who might argue, it’s pool, who cares!? Do men even have an advantage over women?! I’d say this:

Men are, on average, taller, have bigger hands, longer fingers, are stronger, have faster twitch muscles . . . just to name a few significant advantages. So yes, it matters.

But beyond that, honestly, why have a women’s category at all if you’re just going to let two men battle it out in the championship for the win?

Let it sink in, two men vied for the women’s title. A man won. The women’s title. No women were present in the final. How can anyone argue at this point that women aren’t being erased from their own sports? From life?

Chris “Harriet” Haynes beat his fellow male competitor for the women’s championship, winning a £1,800 prize. That is prize money stolen from a woman.

Men win in men’s pool. Men win in women’s pool. Where is it we women are supposed to go to compete against each other?

I cannot say this emphatically enough to both Harriet and Lucy and all the other guys who want to take women’s trophies and opportunities:

PLAY IN MEN’S! NO ONE IS BANNING YOU!

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If you don’t want to be even more annoyed, absolutely do not watch the John Oliver segment on trans-identified male athletes in women’s sports that aired last night.

I’ll provide some commentary on that later.