Jump Shot

[The Statman]

The camera angle doesn't make it difficult to judge as we are seeing the shot from directly in front, so we can see the trajectory the white takes. Where was the referee standing ? probably behind the player or to one side where he in fact cannot see the shot as well as we, the viewers, can. In my opinion, not only does the ref not know the game, but he is standing in the wrong place to make a correct judgemnet based on watching the trajectory of the white. He should have been watching from where the camera was to have seen it, and if the player concerned didn't want the ref to be in front of him when playing the shot, then that is just tough, the ref has to be in the best place to make a judgement, not only to see the trajectory that the white takes, but also to ascertain what spin the player is putting on the white. Also, if the referee knows the game, and what shots are possible and what shots are not, then he has a better understanding of what a foul is rather than calling one and then retracting it when queried by the player concerned.
I do this when refereeing in our local league, my positioning is based on my own judgement on referees positioning when I in fact am playing, ie I stand in the best place to make a judgement, and if that is in a players eye line then I make sure that I keep perfectly still. I certainly only notice referees that move when I am taking a shot or are inordinately slow when re-spotting colours.

I have had a look at the footage again.

It is clear that the referee has checked the path from directly behind the player, and has remained there to watch the shot.

The cue-ball only starts bending about eight inches – maybe a foot – before it passes the blue. There is no doubt in my mind that the direction in which it starts travelling is clearly available without the pink being in the way.

I have watched it in slow motion several times and, eventually, managed to freeze the picture when the cue-ball is at its height. The shadow of the ball on the table is sufficiently our side of the pink, and offline from it, to convince me that the cue-ball has not jumped the pink – especially since the lights above the table are almost certainly our side of the pink, so the cue-ball in flight will be even closer to us than its shadow cast on the table.

There is no doubt in my mind that full-ball contact on the red would be available if the red was moved to the left as much as 2 to 2½ ball's-widths. Freezing the frame at 2:08, and again at 2:09 when the cue-ball is about three quarters of the way to the blue, leaves any doubt that I had eliminated.

And I don't know why Alan Chamberlain's and Jan Verhaas's names are being bandied about concerning this – it is clearly Eirian Williams who is refereeing. Or maybe I really do need glasses.