Meet Tatiana Woollaston, snooker referee who once scolded star for X-rated rant married to top pro
FEMALE referees in snooker really do rule the roost now.
Ronnie O’Sullivan’s foe Desislava Bozhilova has become one of the most respected in the game.
While Zhu Ying continues to officiating the major tournaments.
Joining those seasoned pros is Tatiana Woollaston from Belarus.
The 37-year-old is an official referee of the WPBSA, EASB, EBSA and BSF.
When a frustrated Matt Selt launched into an x-rated rant during his first round clash with Mark Selby at the Crucible, Tatiana clamped down on his bad behaviour.
Away from the baize, she is married to pro snooker star Ben Woollaston, and they have two kids.
For her day job, she reportedly works for high-street fashion giant Next in their head office.
Well educated
Born in Pinsk, the former Soviet Union, Tatiana graduated from the Belarus State Economic University.
A whiz with numbers, she studied finance, banking and credit before going on to do her masters in economics.
Afterwards, she stayed at the university to teach.
But by then, she had designs of moving to the UK after getting into snooker refereeing.
“I never played but watched snooker on Eurosport in Belarus, then I moved to Minsk where there were clubs and tables and asked to train to be a referee,” she told Inside Snooker.
Rise as ref
By 2008, Tatiana was already refereeing in amateur snooker events in her homeland.
She qualified as a Class 3 snooker referee a year later in March 2009, during European Team Snooker Championship in St. Petersburg, Russia, and became a referee member of European Billiards and Snooker Association.
In 2010, she became the first referee from Eastern Europe to officiate at a world-ranking snooker semi-final at the Euro Players Tour Championship event six in Prague, as John Higgins defeated Joe Jogia.
Her rise has continued rapidly she appeared at the World Championships at the Crucible for the first time in 2020.
She refereed the Welsh Open final between Joe Perry and Judd Trump in 2022, then the British Open final that saw Mark Williams and Mark Selby go head-to-head last year.
“When I started in 2010 to where I am now, it’s amazing. I never thought it would happen,” she told World Snooker Tour on their YouTube channel.
Married to a snooker pro
Tatiana met Ben at the Paul Hunter Classic in Furth in 2010.
She joked in an interview with Inside Snooker: “I think it was love at first sight – from his side, anyway!”
Within a year, the pair walked down the aisle.
After they said their ‘I do’s’, Tatiana moved to the UK and set up home with Ben in Leicester.
She is not allowed to referee any of his games on the snooker circuit.
And believes she isn’t treated any differently because she is married to a snooker pro.
She revealed: “I am not allowed to referee Ben, there wasn’t even a formal discussion about it but I think it was just obvious and common sense to everyone. And I wouldn’t want to.
“But in any other situation it shouldn’t matter that I am Ben’s wife if I am doing a good job.
“I get a lot of great feedback from players, I don’t know if they are being polite to me because I am Ben’s wife but they are normally pretty straightforward and honest.
“They might just crack a few jokes and say Ben is a lucky man having a referee for his wife!”
Keeping order
Often, tensions on the baize can hit fever pitch and sometimes players might just crack.
Last year, Tatiana was reffing Matt Selt’s first round clash at the Crucible with Mark Selby.
During the 17th frame, a frustrated Selt unleashed an X-rated rant at the table – shocking the audience.
But no-nonsense Tatiana wasn’t having it.
She sidled up to the Essex-born potter and gave him a warning to mind his Ps and Qs.
“I have to warn you for swearing, if I have to warn you again you will lose the frame,” Tatiana calmly told Selt.
Let it be known, Tatiana Woollaston is a referee you can’t step out of line with.