Michaela Tabb to referee final.

[SnookerFan]

Good news, in my opinion. A quality referee, deserving of the shot. And I look forward to seeing her stood there for two day.

I'm even more gutted that the final tickets had sold out when I tried to get them though.

[gavpowell]

Final tickets and tickets for Ronnie's games sell almost instantly to people who have no intention of attending but want to make a lot of money on ebay. You get used to it.

[cueman]

Disappointed really, if she wasn't a woman I'd doubt people would rate her at all as a ref. She makes far too many silly errors and doesn't really have the right authority or command to deal with certain aspects of the game. I'd like to see Paul Collier back as for me he is by far the best ref on the circuit.

[Le Ball Sack]

More chance to observe her bending over.

[spike]

I'd like to see Paul Collier back as for me he is by far the best ref on the circuit.

Or Brendan Moore, very underrated referee IMO..

[SnookerFan]

Final tickets and tickets for Ronnie's games sell almost instantly to people who have no intention of attending but want to make a lot of money on ebay. You get used to it.

I manage to score tickets last year, to all four sessions of the final. But you're right, there's probably a lot of touts out there. There were people walking around outside The Crucible with big signs saying; "I want tickets, if you've got any spare."

[SnookerFan]

More chance to observe her bending over.

Can't be bad.

[SnookerFan]

Disappointed really, if she wasn't a woman I'd doubt people would rate her at all as a ref. She makes far too many silly errors and doesn't really have the right authority or command to deal with certain aspects of the game. I'd like to see Paul Collier back as for me he is by far the best ref on the circuit.

Or are her mistakes remembered a lot more because she's a woman? Jan Verhaas made a shocker in the John Higgins vs Graeme Dott, but I doubt there'd be any controversy if he got the World Final.

Michaela being the first female, and a female that is particularly glamarous, gives her a lot of attention. You wonder if that's a disadvantage at times.

[vmax4steve]

Disappointed really, if she wasn't a woman I'd doubt people would rate her at all as a ref. She makes far too many silly errors and doesn't really have the right authority or command to deal with certain aspects of the game. I'd like to see Paul Collier back as for me he is by far the best ref on the circuit.

Really

Being a snooker referee in the pro game has to be the easiest refereeing job in sport. Simple arithmetic needed, knowledge of what colour goes on what spot, mandatory calling miss whenever a player fails to get out of a snooker, tv screens to aid replacing balls and players that are 99% honest on the table. Michaela is as good as anyone and more human than those ex coppers who still fail to control rowdy crowds and bozos using mobiles.
More women in the game I say, hope that chinese girl has a say this year.

[best1966]

Or Brendan Moore, very underrated referee IMO..

I wouldn't exactly say underrated, he's done three ranking finals inc. the Uk Champs in 2010 and the Masters this January. They obviously rate him as a great ref. I think he's up there alongside Jan as the best two refs currently by a long way.

[nugget1234]

Michaela has got the final on merit, she is a great ref, and I, for one, wish her the best of luck and sure she will do a great job

[LittleMissAlexa]

Really

Being a snooker referee in the pro game has to be the easiest refereeing job in sport. Simple arithmetic needed, knowledge of what colour goes on what spot, mandatory calling miss whenever a player fails to get out of a snooker, tv screens to aid replacing balls and players that are 99% honest on the table. Michaela is as good as anyone and more human than those ex coppers who still fail to control rowdy crowds and bozos using mobiles.
More women in the game I say, hope that chinese girl has a say this year.

Thats not the miss rule its only called because professionals dont take the easiest escape because they dont want to leave a ball on

[nrage]

Thats not the miss rule its only called because professionals dont take the easiest escape because they dont want to leave a ball on

You're right, but for all practical purposes it ends up being as vmax has said and a miss is always called at the pro level.

[vmax4steve]

Thats not the miss rule its only called because professionals dont take the easiest escape because they dont want to leave a ball on

I know what the miss rule is all about but referees don't apply it to just how difficult or easy a situation is, merely that the ball/s on is missed. Even with just one ball on or many the call is always foul and a miss even if the ball is missed by a fagpaper.

We don't use the miss rule in our league because we feel it isn't warranted for players of very low ability and would be open to be used in situations and for purposes that the rule isn't intended for, which is the case in the pro game where players know that a miss is always called and use it to their advantage to merely rack up some points or have several practise goes before getting it right.
The old rule of accept the situation as it lies or put the player back in works still in our league and would in the pro game. I like the risk involved in putting a player back in when there is a chancy pot on and I like the risk involved in taking on that chancy pot.

[screw-back]

vmax, you're missing the point. Correctly saying that it's not used in your league because of low ability which is fair enough, but pro's of old knew HOW to miss a ball by a fag paper, knowing full well that a foul and miss would not be called and the opponent would be in all kinds of trouble through no fault of their own. Guys in the pro game have immense ability. Look at how quickly some old pro's fell out of the pro tour after the miss was introduced! I dare say that todays players would be up in arms if it wasn't called nowadays.