A player comes to the table with just blue, pink and black remaining and in a snookered situation. After taking some time to work out the angle of escape he eventually places his cue on the table with the butt close to the cue ball and the tip close to the opposite cushion pointing to the approximate area in which to strike it. He then moves around the table to take a line of sight, adjusts the cue slightly and takes another line of sight. (See Diagram)

What would be your decision on his action and what penalty would you award?

Following on from the highest break question, what is the highest points total in a world ranking frame of Snooker and by which player?

The Snooker World Championship has never been won on multiple occasions by any player from outside the U.K. and success has only been achieved three times by anyone from outside the borders, obviously by three different players. Can you name them.

Which one of these players also holds the record of being the only winner of all three World titles - Junior,  Amateur and  Professional.  

The striker from a snookered position strikes the cue ball onto a cushion with such force as to then cause it to jump over a ball not on. The cue ball then makes first contact with a ball on.

Question 1. Is this a foul?

Question 2. If it is a foul can it also be called a miss?

Question 3. Would it also be a foul and a miss or just a foul if the cue ball had failed to strike a ball on?

Who holds the record for the highest break made in a professional ranking tournament.

What are Billiard/Snooker balls made from?

The next poser comes from a situation that occurred in a competition frame of snooker that was refereed.

It arose when one of the players had been left a table with reds still to be potted and the cue ball touching one of them. This was checked and called by the referee and the incoming striker was fully informed. He was however, under the mistaken impression that when faced with a touching ball a nomination had to be made, even when the touching ball was a ball on as in this case. He could not be dissuaded from this misconception and nominated the blue ball which he successfully struck without disturbing the touching red.

The question then arises of whether this is a foul or not. It also follows that the other questions could be, is it a foul if the blue is propelled into a pocket or if the blue should contact another red which then falls into a pocket and would it have been a foul if the blue ball was not contacted?

This is a true story and serves to highlight the misconceptions, of which this is only the tip of the iceberg, that we as referees have to contend with when faced with ill informed players.

Nicknames seem to be the thing in England and just about every professional snooker player of any note has one. Our own Neil Robertson is know as the Thunder from Down Under. Why he is likened to thunder is anyone’s guess and I assume that he only has this epithet because it rhymes with ‘under’. Here in Australia some of our player’s too have nicknames, Adrian Ridley is know as the Riddler for obvious reasons and Peter Hawkes is know as Hawkeye for the same reason and as a testament to his accuracy.

Others have nicknames for rather more obscure reasons and include The Captain, The Hurricane, The Cat, Dracula, The Grinder, The Hitman, Mr. Maximum and the Essex Exocet.

Can you name these players and give a reason for their nicknames where it is not obvious?

In a frame of snooker the cue ball comes to rest hard up to the curve of the cushion in a pocket opening such that a straight line path to all balls on is unavailable.

Question 1 Is the incoming striker snookered?

Question 2 Must the referee call a miss if a ball on is not first struck?

Question 3 If a foul had occurred prior to the cue ball ending up in the position described, can the referee award a free ball?

Question 4 The non striker is  female and her attire is completed by open toed shoes and a skirt, is this acceptable dress for a ranking tournament?

A player pots, in sequence, all 15 reds taking a black after each red then all the colours. In the process he achieves a break of 146. How is this possible?