right or wrong decision?

[shadow]

this actually happened in a local league match last night.my opponent was playing red which he did but left one on the edge of the pocket.after a few gestures or disgust he walked away from the table and sat down.i approached the table and while i was chalking my cue the red dropped into the pocket.my opponent leapt to his feet and claimed the point.i did not aggree and said that as he had left the table the red should be replaced and the referee agreed with me much to the disgust of my opponent who at one stage refused to accept the decision and would not play on.he relented and played on by smashing every subsequent shot he had.was this decision right or wrong?p.s. the bad feeling affected me and i ended up losing the frame.

[ferret]

The decision was correct.

By the rule book, a players shot is over when all balls come to a stop so technically the red had stopped, then it was your turn but as you did not strike the cue ball to hit the red and pot it, then yeah it should of been replaced and you continue.

[The Statman]

Absolutely correct.

There is the ruling that "if it stops momentarily and then drops in, it must not be replaced".

However, it doesn't sound like that was the case last night. It is not as if the red could (appear to) have stopped for that long, when in fact it was imperceptibly still on its travels.

So the decision was entirely correct. Doesn't matter if it sits there for 10 seconds or 10 minutes and then drops in of its own accord – the referee should simply replace it if it falls in.

[ste bed]

this happened in our league a while ago our player came to the table and went for a red in the jaw of the pocket but as he hit the cue ball the red fell in to the pocket and the white went in after it there player said it was a foul but the reff replaced the balls and my player played is shot again .

[MattCash]

this is interesting as in one of the masters finals i have been to, john higgins played a red into the middle pocket, but it stopped for a second or two and dropped in the pocket. There was no attention payed to this shot by the ref and john went on to win the deciding frame.

Reading the previous posts, is this right that no attention was payed and that john won from continuing the break from this red?

[The Statman]

this is interesting as in one of the masters finals i have been to, john higgins played a red into the middle pocket, but it stopped for a second or two and dropped in the pocket. There was no attention payed to this shot by the ref and john went on to win the deciding frame.

Reading the previous posts, is this right that no attention was payed and that john won from continuing the break from this red?

Yes it was quite ok. It did not really stop for anything longer than momentarily, and therefore the conclusion is that it was still moving as a result of the momentum of the shot when it dropped.

Above, the situation was that the player had gone back to his seat, and the next player was at the table chalking his cue when the red dropped. Here, it is clear that the red fell in by some other means – probably just the kind of vibration which is bound to happen – and not as part of the shot.

The exact point at which one becomes the other is down to the referee's judgement as to when the ball has stopped rolling.

[vainparasite]

I think the ruling that its a foul has got mixed up with pool,
I was playing in a local pub league match about 18 years ago and i left one of my balls overhanging the pocket, my opponent addressed the table and cued up his shot but before he hit anything my ball dropped. The ref awarded me 2 shots. My opponent said it had happened to him the week before too and those were the rules. I must admit I had never heard of this rule before.

[PandaRepublik]

p.s. the bad feeling affected me and i ended up losing the frame.

I can understand him being angry at the decision but rules are rules. The way he reacted is bad sportsmanship though and he should be penalised for his tantrum. I hate little rats like that! Sorry it spoilt your frame.

[shadow]

thanks pandaRepublik.thing was he was not a "little rat".he was 6'6"+ covered in tattoos and built like a rugby prop with muscles in places i havent even not places!!!!!!but seriously i think there is a lesson to be learned and that is to try and shut out any distractions and just "play the balls".could have easily gone the other way and him totally lose it.perhaps i am looking for excuses anyway as i played rubbish!!