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Jean Balukas (born June 28, 1959) is an American pool player from Brooklyn, New York, and ranks among the stellar players in the history of the sport. At least through the 1990s, when Allison Fisher began her ascendancy, Balukas was widely acknowledged as the sole candidate for greatest female player ever.〔The New York Times Company (February 3, 1992). (Clean Pool ) by Allessandra Stanley. Retrieved March 25, 2008.〕〔New York Woman Magazine (1991). (Too Good for Her Own Good ) by Mary Bruno. September 1991 issue. Retrieved May 8, 2007.〕〔Seyberts.com (date of copyright not provided). (Interview with top male players on inclusion of women in the World 14.1 Championship ). Retrieved May 8, 2007. 〕 Described as a "trailblazer, a child prodigy, a loner who rebelled against dress codes for women—the pool equivalent of Billie Jean King",〔 she is a five-time Billiards Congress of America (BCA) Player of the Year, was the youngest inductee into the BCA Hall of Fame and the second woman given the honor, and was ranked fifteenth on ''Billiard Digest's'' Fifty Greatest Players of the [20th] Century.〔〔〔Sun-Times News Group (2006). ''NOTEWORTHY'', ''Chicago Sun-Times'', December 15, 1999, by Elliott Harris.〕〔 Balukas was considered a prodigy, coming to the public's attention first at 6 years of age at a pool exhibition held at New York City's Grand Central Station and thereafter appearing on television, including on CBS's primetime television show, ''I've Got a Secret''. At just 9 years old she placed 5th in the 1969 U.S. Open straight pool championship, and placed 4th and 3rd respectively in the following two U.S. Opens. From that early start, Balukas completely dominated women's professional pool during the 1970s and 1980s.〔Billiard Congress of America (1995-2005). (BCA Hall of Fame Inductees: 1985 - 1991 ). Retrieved April 24, 2007.〕〔The New York Times Company (August 22, 1992). (Billiard Master Reposes in Self-Exile ) by Douglas Martin. Retrieved March 25, 2008.〕〔Sun-Times News Group (February 15, 1988). ''Balukas Jumps Into the Shark Pool'' by Dave Manthey. Retrieved May 3, 2007.〕 Balukas won the U.S. Open seven years in a row from 1972 through 1978, accumulating six world championship titles, had well over 100 professional competition first-place finishes with 38 majors to her name, had a streak of 16 first-place finishes in women's professional tournaments, and was the only woman to compete on equal footing with men in professional play in her era.〔〔〔〔 She quit the sport amidst controversy in 1988 while at the height of her ability, due to a dispute over her conduct in a match at the World Open Nine-ball Championship of that year.〔〔 == Young prodigy == Jean's father, Albert Balukas, along with his partner, professional player Frank McGown, was the proprietor of a forty-eight-table pool hall called the Ovington Lounge in the Bay Ridge section of Brooklyn, New York. Balukas's introduction to play was at 4 years of age, not on one of her father's tables but on a 4-1⁄2 by 9 foot pool table in the cellar of her childhood home, purchased by her parents to keep her four billiards-playing brothers out of local pool rooms.〔The New York Times Company (October 18, 1987). (The Best Woman in the Hall ) by Roger Starr. Retrieved March 25, 2008.〕〔The New York Times Company (February 5, 1967). (Girl Wonder of Billiards, 7, Took Cue Early ) by Dave Anderson. Retrieved April 24, 2007.〕〔The New York Times Company (August 5, 1973). (For a Freckled Brooklyn Girl, Pool Is No Game; A Well-Kept Secret ). Retrieved April 24, 2007.〕 In later years Balukas explained that she "almost never went to the pool hall and if I did go, I didn't play. I felt uncomfortable, and besides, girls didn't go in those days."〔 Wielding an ivory-detailed cue made especially for her in 1965 by renowned cuemaker George Balabushka, at 5 and 6 years of age she would practice straight pool to 50 points after family dinners with her father's encouragement but not participation.〔〔 Many have assumed that she had been tutored in the game. However, Balukas states, "when they find out that my father doesn't play, many people think I must have learned the game from Frank McGown. That isn't true. I taught myself to play pool."〔 In 1966, McGown staged a billiards exhibition at New York City's Grand Central Station. With her parents' permission, he brought along the 6-year-old Balukas, where she participated in the spectacle. The attention this generated, coupled with her prodigious talent, landed her a guest appearance in 1966 on WNEW-TV's ''Wonderama''. Later that year, Balukas, along with her younger sister Laura, appeared on CBS's popular show ''I've Got a Secret''. None of the panelists were successful in guessing that the 7- and 5-year-old sisters were pool enthusiasts.〔〔 The following year Balukas appeared in an exhibition match at the bygone Carom Club, then located at 1697 Broadway in Manhattan. A second-grader at the time, according to her mother, Peggy, she did her homework and took a nap before appearing at the scheduled match.〔 In advertisements for the match, Balukas was billed as "the Little Princess of Pocket Billiards."〔 She was described by a reporter present as "a little girl with honey-blond hair...wearing a short yellow dress and green leotards...who resembles a young Shirley Temple."〔 To great applause she edged out her opponent, Roland DeMarco, a pool enthusiast and the President of Finch College. The final score was 50 to 42.〔 In 1969, at 9 years of age, Balukas competed in her first Billiard Congress of America U.S. Open straight pool championship, taking 5th place among a field of adults.〔Billiards Digest (1999). "50 Greatest Players of the Century" by Kenneth Shouler. ''Billiards Digest Magazine''. October 1999 issue, page 50-51 and 60.〕〔 In the next two U.S. Opens, in 1970 and 1971, she placed 4th and 3rd, respectively. By that time she was already fairly well known, having had additional television appearances alongside such billiard stars and celebrities as Willie Mosconi, Sammy Davis Jr., Peter Falk, Hugh Downs and Sonny Fox.〔〔〔 She would later appear on television many more times, in addition to broadcasts of pool matches, including an interview on ''The Mike Douglas Show'' airing on January 11, 1977 with Bernadette Peters and David Niven.〔The New York Times Company (January 11, 1977). (Television ). Retrieved May 1, 2007.〕 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Jean Balukas」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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