WITH long black hair, snug black pants, tight black shirt and a touch of aggression, Jeanette Lee, the Black Widow, devoured all her opponents in the US-China Billiards Tournament held in Shanghai on May 12.

The world's most recognizable professional pool player swept away all three of her Chinese competitors to reach the championship in China's first women billiards tournament.

A warm smile crossed her face when she embraced her 11-month-old daughter, nicknamed Baby Widow, as she reached for the champions' cup. It is hard to imagine this tender mother was the same "cold killer" who beat her opponents.

"I am very competitive," the American-Korean Lee told the Shanghai Star. "Being a champion only means you kept going when it got rough and everyone else gave up."

"I am happy my daughter Cheyenne and my mother are here with me," said Lee. "We will go to the shopping mall and try some Shanghai cuisine."

A successful pool career, a happy family and exotic beauty - everything seems wonderful for the world's top women pool player except her spine.

Diagnosed with severe scoliosis at the age of 12, she underwent surgery to break and realign her spine.

"I was in the most pain you can imagine," she recalled.

A steel rod was surgically implanted in her back to stabilize her spine. The rod was removed in 2000. She is unable to bend over at more than an 80-degree angle.

But she can make a pool ball slam, bend, spin, and curve magically into pockets.

As a teenager, Jeanette Lee was shy and lacked self-confidence. She refused to use a brace for her spine out of fear that her classmates would laugh at her.

At age 18 she discovered pool and fell in love with the game. Four years later she became a professional nine-ball player. Two years after that she was the best player in the world and today she remains among the game's leading players along with Allison Fisher.

Lee learned the game in pool halls around New York while making side trips to New Jersey and Long Island. She would play in a tournament every night of the week, paying a US$25 entry fee to test her skills against perhaps the most competitive collection of players in the world.

"It was great practice for me, in terms of the competitiveness," she said. "Not that I wasn't competitive to begin with but when you put your money where your mouth is and your heart's in your throat it's just a different feeling."

She had the record of playing pool for more than 30 hours without stopping according to Yue-sai Kan, one of her friends and also the sponsor of her China visit.

When she joined the Women's Professional Billiard Association tour in 1992 at the age of 20 the long hours in the pool halls had sharpened Lee's skills and her confidence. She sensed immediately that she could compete with the best professionals in the world.

She has been called "the Black Widow" for her aggressive play, long dark hair hanging down her back and her tendency to wear only black during tournaments.

"It almost gives me the freedom to be as bad as I want to be," Lee said of her nickname.

"I think women should be very proud to be women and celebrate their femininity, and that's something that I do," she said. "I am very proud to be a woman. I want to be feminine and still be able to be great and hold myself with class and dignity."

She became a member of the Women's Sports Foundation Board of Trustees (2001-03). In 1998, she received the prestigious WPBA Sportsperson of the Year award and was nominated for the award in 1995 and 1997.

Her creation of The Jeanette Lee Foundation and advocacy for the Scoliosis Association have helped increase awareness and research in the fight against the disease.

She is living proof that you can succeed in spite of a disability.

"I hate it when people let their fear stop them from their dreams." said Lee.

Lee often appears in magazines, showing her sexy and exotic style.

"Sexy is not just how you look," said Lee. "If you are confident enough to shoot down the difficulties, and do what you want and not what you have to do, then you are sexy."

Lee married George Breedlove, a professional pool player in 1996 and they have an adopted daughter, the nicknamed Baby Widow.

"I'm known for my long, jet-black hair. He's always loved my hair. I once chopped it off. Took 14 inches away. He said it was like cutting off his arm."