World Snooker Championship referee is banned from officiating one player for good reason
The official is one of the most highly thought of referees in the game
Tatiana Woollaston, one of the most well-respected referees at the World Snooker Championship, is actually prohibited from officiating matches involving one particular player – her husband. Belarus-born and Leicester-based Woollaston has taken charge of matches featuring most of the sport's leading stars, with the notable exception of her significant other, Ben. The pair, who were married in 2011 and share two children, insist on maintaining clear professional boundaries.
Before the 2024 UK Championship, she explained: "He's on the circuit as a player, I'm on the circuit as a referee. We've never really mixed that. I'm obviously not allowed to referee his games and I wouldn't want to, to be fair." Both have worked and competed at the same tournaments, including the World Championship. However, Woollaston won't have the worry of keeping an eye on Ben's games this year, with the star not making the cut for the Worlds, which is currently ongoing.
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Elaborating on keeping their boundaries in place, she added: "Ben's career is immensely important, but he would never say no to me going to any snooker events because he knows how much I love it."
"If he's out of the event, he'll take over doing school pick-ups and homework. We work around each other while Ben's mum plays a big role helping us with the kids."
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Woollaston's abilities as an official are highly regarded. She has even earned acclaim from seven-time world champion Ronnie O'Sullivan. "[She's the] best ref in the world by a mile," O'Sullivan said during the last World Championship, with fellow snooker star Reanne Evans agreeing.
"She's a top ref," she said. "I really rate her, she's a great girl as well. She deserves the final. She's top class and I hope she does get the final next year."
However, while she has gained accolades across the sport, the official has maintained her role at high street retailer, Next, for more than a decade.
Speaking in 2024, she said: "It's a great company to work for and they're very supportive of my refereeing career. I've been with the company for over 10 years now. They're really excited about me refereeing and really supportive. They let me have the time off.
"They've been flexible with giving me time off when I need to go away or I sometimes work from hotel rooms rather than come into the office. They're really proud to see me on TV."
However, her first love is snooker after she fell for the game after first watching it on Russian-language Eurosport as a child. She recalled: "It was back when there were just five or six events a year. Every time an event finished, it was like, 'Oh my god, it's three or four months until the next one!' Me and my dad never missed a match."