World Snooker Championship referee banned from officiating in one player’s matches
ONE of snooker’s top referees is banned from officiating matches involving a World Championship star.
Ben Woollaston stunned four-time champion Mark Selby 10-8 in the first round yesterday.
But experienced Belarusian ref Tatiana is banned from taking charges of his matches because they are a married couple with two kids.
They met at a tournament in 2010 and tied the knot just ten months later.
Both of them are featuring at the Crucible this year and fans are wondering what rules are in place about the duo.
Tatiana is free to referee matches on her husband’s side of the draw.
And with the two-table setup at the tournament until the semi-finals, she could officiate on the baize directly next to Woollaston during one of his matches.
But World Championship chiefs are reportedly unlikely to schedule this to happen.
On her career and being married to a pro, Tatiana said: “He’s on the circuit as a player, I’m on the circuit as a referee.
“We’ve never really mix that. I’m obviously not allowed to referee his games and I wouldn’t want to, to be fair.
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“There wasn’t even a formal discussion about it but I think it was just obvious and common sense to everyone. And I wouldn’t want to.
“But in any other situation it shouldn’t matter that I am Ben’s wife if I am doing a good job.
“I get a lot of great feedback from players, I don’t know if they are being polite to me because I am Ben’s wife but they are normally pretty straightforward and honest.
“They might just crack a few jokes and say Ben is a lucky man having a referee for his wife.”
Woollaston faces Si Jiahui in the second round tomorrow, but he is lucky to even be in the tournament after blacking it out while driving just a couple of weeks amid a battle with chronic fatigue syndrome.