| Born | 30 July 1970 Newport, Wales |
|---|---|
| Sport country |  Wales |
| Professional | 1992–2024 |
Paul Collier (born 30 July 1970, in Newport, Wales) is a Welsh retired snooker referee who has overseen four World Snooker Championship finals. In 2024 he retired from refereeing to focus on his role as a tournament director.
Born in Newport, South Wales, [1] [2] Collier began refereeing on the professional snooker circuit in 1992. [3] In 2004, he took charge of the World Snooker Championship final between Ronnie O'Sullivan and Graeme Dott where he also became the youngest referee to take charge of a world championship final. [3]
Eighteen months after the 2004 final, in 2005, Collier quit the main tour, citing the lack of financial rewards in his profession. With only five ranking snooker events, he was no longer enjoying the tour. [4] He was persuaded by Barry Hearn to re-join the main professional tour in 2011, with the additional opportunity to work as a Tournament Director. [4]
In 2016, he refereed the final of the 2016 World Snooker Championship between Mark Selby and Ding Junhui. [5] In 2021, he took charge of his third Crucible final during the 2021 World Snooker Championship. [6] [4] [3] He returned to referee his fourth and last final in 2024, after which he retired as a snooker referee, to focus on his role as a tournament director. [7] [8]
Snooker is a cue sport played on a rectangular billiards table covered with a green cloth called baize, with six pockets, one at each corner and one in the middle of each long side. First played by British Army officers stationed in India in the second half of the 19th century, the game is played with twenty-two balls, comprising a white cue ball, fifteen red balls, and six other balls—a yellow, green, brown, blue, pink, and black—collectively called the colours. Using a cue stick, the individual players or teams take turns to strike the cue ball to pot other balls in a predefined sequence, accumulating points for each successful pot and for each time the opposing player or team commits a foul. An individual frame of snooker is won by the player who has scored the most points. A snooker match ends when a player reaches a predetermined number of frames.
The Welsh Open is a professional ranking snooker tournament that has been held annually since 1992. It replaced the Welsh Professional Championship, which ran annually from 1980 to 1991 and was open only to Welsh players. The Welsh Open is now the longest running ranking event after the World Championship and the UK Championship. Since the 2016–17 season, it has been one of four tournaments in the Home Nations Series, alongside the Northern Ireland Open, the Scottish Open, and the English Open. Since 2017, the winner of the event has received the Ray Reardon Trophy, named after the Welsh six-time world champion. Reardon himself presented the newly named trophy to 2017 winner Stuart Bingham.
The 2006 World Snooker Championship was a professional snooker tournament. It was held at the Crucible Theatre in Sheffield, England. It was the 38th consecutive year that the World Snooker Championship was staged at the venue. It started on 15 April 2006 and was scheduled to finish on 1 May 2006, but continued into the early hours of 2 May. The sixth and final ranking tournament of the 2005–06 snooker season, it was organised by the World Professional Billiards and Snooker Association and sponsored for the first time by online casino 888.com. The total prize fund was £896,240, of which the winner received £200,000.
The 2004 World Snooker Championship was a professional snooker tournament that took place from 17 April to 3 May 2004 at the Crucible Theatre in Sheffield, England, the 28th consecutive year the World Snooker Championship was held at the venue. The eighth and final ranking event of the 2003–04 snooker season, the tournament was organised by the World Professional Billiards and Snooker Association and sponsored by cigarette company Embassy. The total prize fund was £1,378,920, of which the winner received £250,000.
The 2002 World Snooker Championship was a professional snooker tournament that took place from 20 April to 6 May 2002 at the Crucible Theatre in Sheffield, England. It was the final ranking event of the 2001–02 snooker season. This was the 26th consecutive year that the World Snooker Championship had been held at the Crucible, marking the 25th anniversary of the first staging of the event at this venue. The championship was sponsored by cigarette manufacturer Embassy.
The 2001 World Snooker Championship was a professional ranking snooker tournament that took place between 21 April and 7 May 2001 at the Crucible Theatre in Sheffield, England. The tournament was sponsored by cigarette manufacturer Embassy.
The 2000 World Snooker Championship was a professional ranking snooker tournament that took place between 15 April and 1 May 2000 at the Crucible Theatre in Sheffield, England.
The 1999 World Snooker Championship was a professional ranking snooker tournament that took place between 17 April and 3 May 1999 at the Crucible Theatre in Sheffield, England.
The 1998 World Snooker Championship was a professional ranking snooker tournament that took place between 18 April and 4 May 1998 at the Crucible Theatre in Sheffield, England.
The 1997 World Snooker Championship was a professional ranking snooker tournament that took place between 19 April and 5 May 1997. Staged at the Crucible Theatre in Sheffield, England, the tournament was sponsored by cigarette manufacturer Embassy.
Eirian Williams is a former professional snooker referee. He was formerly a police officer with the Dyfed-Powys Police in the Welsh towns of Llanelli, Llandeilo and Ammanford.
Michaela Tabb is a Scottish snooker and pool referee. She established significant milestones for female officials in professional cue sports, beginning in pool, where she officiated at top tournaments such as the WPA World Nine-ball Championship and the Mosconi Cup. She qualified in 2001 to referee on the World Snooker Tour and was the sport's highest profile female referee for the next 14 years. She became the first woman to officiate at a professional ranking snooker tournament at the 2002 Welsh Open, and the first woman to referee a ranking tournament final at the 2007 Welsh Open. As of 2022, she is the only woman to have refereed the World Snooker Championship final, which she did twice, in 2009 and 2012.
Michael White is a Welsh professional snooker player from Neath, Glamorgan. Nicknamed ‘Lightning’ due to his fast playing style, White is a former top 16 player and two-time ranking event winner.
Luca Brecel is a Belgian professional snooker player. A four-time ranking event winner, Brecel is the former World Snooker Champion, having won the 2023 event by defeating four-time champion Mark Selby 18–15 in the final. Brecel trailed Si Jiahui 5–14 in the semi-final, but eventually won 17–15. This comeback from nine frames behind is the biggest deficit ever overturned in the history of the World Championship at the Crucible Theatre.
John Williams is a Welsh retired snooker referee. He presided over eleven World Snooker Championship finals, nine at the Crucible Theatre, including the 1985 final between Dennis Taylor and Steve Davis – the most watched snooker match in history. Having begun refereeing in the 1960s, Williams left the civil service in 1981 to work as a referee full-time. Having the chance to referee tournaments at Pontins, he quickly took charge and organised the events for many years. He gained national attention following a match between Fred Davis and Alex Higgins where the roof collapsed after rainfall and flooded the snooker table. Williams was pictured in many national newspapers after the event, resulting in more television coverage.
The 2015 World Snooker Championship was a professional snooker tournament which took place from 18 April to 4 May 2015 at the Crucible Theatre in Sheffield, England. It was the 39th consecutive year that the World Snooker Championship had been held at the Crucible, and was the final ranking event of the 2014–15 snooker season. Sports betting company Betfred sponsored the event for the first time in three years, having previously done so from 2009 to 2012. The top sixteen players in the snooker world rankings were placed into the draw, and another sixteen players qualified for the event at a tournament taking place from 8 to 15 April 2015 at the Ponds Forge International Sports Centre, Sheffield.
Brendan Moore is an English former professional snooker referee.
The 2022 World Snooker Championship was a professional snooker tournament that took place from 16 April to 2 May 2022 at the Crucible Theatre in Sheffield, England, the 46th consecutive year the World Snooker Championship was held at the venue. The 16th and final ranking event of the 2021–22 snooker season, the tournament was organised by the World Snooker Tour and sponsored by sports betting company Betfred. It was broadcast in the United Kingdom by the BBC, in Europe by Eurosport, and elsewhere in the world by Matchroom Sport and other broadcasters. The total prize fund was £2,395,000, of which the winner received £500,000.
Maike Kesseler is a German snooker referee from Mammendorf near Munich in Bavaria.