The World Women’s Snooker Championship has been contested annually since 1976, allowing the finest female snooker players to participate on the World Women’s Snooker Tour. Unlike most sports, snooker is a mixed gender sport that enables women and men to participate in the same category. Women’s engagement, however, is still far lower, and they remain to be marginalised. Although it will take some time to witness a female cueist compete in the World Snooker Championship, there are now more females in this sport than it has ever been – with a handful of female snooker referees assuming limelight at the sport’s major competitions.
A snooker referee’s job entails much more than keeping track of infractions and snooker game clock time restrictions, and several female referees are among the finest in the industry. Even though many snooker experts are accustomed to female referees like Michaela Tabb or Desislava Bozhilova, there are now many more women working at the highest levels of this game as well.
Here we will list down some of the more prominent female snooker referee faces in the industry:
Michaela Tabb
Michaela Tabb is widely considered as the most renowned woman in snooker. She is the empress of female snooker referees. Following a successful career as a pro pool referee, Tabb qualified to referee on the World Snooker Tour in 2001, thus becoming the sport’s most well-known female official. Tabb was the very first female to referee in a graded snooker event in 2002, after fourteen years in the professional circuit. Tabb also made history by being the first woman to officiate a ranking event final five years later, when she officiated the 2007 Welsh Open final. According to the most recent records, she was the first woman to officiate the World Snooker Championship finals in 2009 and again in 2012.
Tatiana Woollaston
Tatiana Woollaston began officiating amateur tournaments in Belarus in 2008, and has been a high-profile female snooker referee for the past 5 years. Woollaston’s debut European Tour event was in 2010, and she went on to officiate a semi-final in the championship in Prague the following year.
Woollaston is a veteran on the world ranking snooker tournaments and the European Tour, and is now regarded as one of the top female snooker referees. While officiating the Welsh Open in 2015, she had her first appearance on national television. She also qualified for the 2020 World Championships by officiating a match at the Crucible in 2019. Woollaston holds a degree in economics as well as being married to Ben Woollaston, a pro snooker player. This is a snooker-crazed family with two kids!
Proletina Velichkova
A year after learning that the Bulgarian Snooker Referees Association was seeking referees, Proletina Velichkova embarked on her path to become the country’s maiden successful snooker referee. Velichkova is among snooker’s most renowned referees, having initially supervised at a European Tour tournament during the Bulgarian Open of 2012.
To date, she’s presided over several high-profile televised ranking games, both in Bulgaria and across the world. Her first broadcast match was in 2013. Velichkova has a background in Scandinavian studies and has considered the thought of engaging in languages in addition to being a leading female snooker referee. Velichkova likes reading, sketching, and has a strong interest in sociological and sports psychology, all of which help her in her work as a snooker referee.
Monika Sulkowska
Monika Sulkowska began refereeing in 2012 and has since developed into one of the best female snooker officials in the world. Her maiden World Snooker championship was the 2014 Gdynia Open, where Shaun Murphy broke the world record with a flawless 147 break. As a referee, Sulkowska has overseen several tournaments, including the German Masters, the Home Nations Series, as well as the World Snooker Championship Qualifying Rounds, among others.
Sulowska earns a respectable livelihood as a female snooker referee, however her remuneration pales in contrast to Ronnie O’Sullivan’s net worth. She also works as a book editor and a freelance sports writer. When he is not playing snooker, the Polish professional likes climbing and travelling across the globe.
Desislava Bozhilova
Desislava Bozhilova, the world’s best female snooker referee, has made an incredible trip from the Bulgarian village of Silven towards the World Snooker stage. Bozhilova began her career as a pool player, but after watching snooker on TV as a child, she chose to pursue a career as a snooker referee.
Michaele Tabb, the 2 time World Championship finals referee, has been credited by Bozhilova for removing sexism and gender discrimination in snooker on several occasions. Bozhilova enjoys snooker and the lifestyle it provides, and she has the potential to be the most dominant female snooker referee for years to come if she keeps up her current level of success. Bozhilova’s reputation in the snooker world means she has a good chance of officiating the World Championship final in the future.
Snooker Betting
With origins reaching all the way back to 1875, snooker has been around for a long period of time. Many people find it to be a pleasant game to play with their friends or in contests with others. Whether you are a seasoned sports bettor or a complete novice, the ideas below can assist you improve your chances of making a profit. For example, before betting on a game, be sure you know everything there is to know about it. When players venture onto green baize, they are presented with a plethora of betting options. If you have ever gambled on snooker at a conventional sportsbook, you know how difficult it can be to locate live betting on the game. But with online casino sites and sportsbooks available in plenty nowadays, it isn’t impossible to find a variety of betting markets as well as odds and options.
So take your time, go through the variety of options and odds available and place your favourite bets on snooker.