The Miss Rule

[gazcoyle]

Hi

I had a league match last night and my opponent chose to have a freeball. It was quite obvious he was playing the yellow and played safe on it to put me in a tougher snooker behind the brown. The problem is I thought it was a foul because he never nominated the yellow ball to the ref so i argued he made a foul. The ref replied that " It was obvious he was playing the yellow so there is no need to nominate a colour ". Is this a foul or does the player not need to nominate when playing a freeball?

Thanks

[ste bed]

not sure but if its obvious what ball he was going for and the ref had called freeball then i would never try to claim a foul. you knew what he was doing he knew and the ref probably knew too. dont try rob the guy because he played a good shot. i know this might not be the letter of the law and you may have to nominate before even if is obvious. but i think you would look knob and a bit unsporting if you did. best thing to do is always nominate then there's no problem.

[gazcoyle]

Thanks for your input ste bed. But it was a very important cup match and nearly lost me the frame. As much as i appreciate your sporting opinion, i didnt ask if you thought it was unsporting did i? I clearly ask if it is a foul or not by not nominating?

[ste bed]

it always is isnt it i dont care how important it is i dont think its a foul and i think its very unsporting of you to try and claim a foul when everybody in the room probably knew exactly what the guy was doing you included. sorry for being blut but imo you are trying to cheat the guy out of playing a good shot.

[hotpot]

Got to agree with Ste Bed , snooker has always been a game of etiquette , a gentlemans game , nearly always played in sush a sporting manner .

If it was obvious to me what ball an opponent was going for , then irrespective of whether it was legally a foul , morally i would never look to gain un advantage like this .

Does,nt matter how big the occasion , it just not cricket . Put yourself in the other fellows shoes , how would you feel .

Not here to cause any arguments , just giving my opinion

[gazcoyle]

Yet again you seem to have gave me your opinion which im not interested in. I just want to know if by textbook if it is classed as a foul because i have been pulled for it before in a money match and was informed that you must nominate with no matter how obvious it is?

[magicman]

Have to agree with these two. No you didnt ask whether we thought it was unsporting. We did.

[gazcoyle]

Magicman stay out of this with your bull****......... your comment dont make sense

Can anyone out there answer the question what this post is all about?

DO YOU BY SNOOKER LAW HAVE TO NOMINATE THE COLOUR WHEN TAKING A FREEBALL? NO MATTER HOW OBVIOUS?

[The Statman]

The rule wa changed on 1 December 1970 – prior to that, unlike a colour after a red, you HAD to verbally call the free ball that you were choosing.

Now, though, it is the same as the colour-after-a-red scenario – you do not have to verbally state your choice if it is obvious; if it is not obvious, the referee must ask the player and the player cannot be fouled if the referee has not asked him to state his intention.

[The Statman]

By the way, the title of your thread is misleading; it has nothing to do with the Miss rule, this is the free ball rule!

[gazcoyle]

Thanks for your opinion stat man. So the ref was right it is not a foul?!?

[gazcoyle]

I know............ typing error

[The Statman]

Thanks for your opinion stat man. So the ref was right it is not a foul?!?

Yes, the referee was right.

It is amazing the number of people who do think it's a foul, even though the rule changed 39 years ago – even people who weren't born then!

[Kyra]

Thanks for your opinion stat man. So the ref was right it is not a foul?!?

No, not a foul. For the ref it was obvious which colour your opponent would play. If in doubt the ref would have asked the other player to verbally nominate a colour. But it looks to me that the situation was quite clear so the ref didn't have to ask.

[APK]

Statman is quite correct.

A player can nominate which ball he is 'on' by direction or declaration.

It is worth noting that if the referee had asked the striker to declare which ball he is on and the striker failed to do so, it is a foul with a value of 7 points.
Having said that, most referees will only foul the highest value available in the direction of play. It seems wrong and not in the interest of fair play to foul a player 7 points when the Black ball is not even at the same end of the table and it is obvious that the striker is not attempting to hit it.
But the letter of the Rule says it is a foul 7.