The Rules of Billiards & Snooker as managed by the Rules Committee of the World Professional Billiards and Snooker Association (WPBSA) 

See WPBSA Rules

An old method for a new idea.

Newsletters have been a tried and tested method of communication for many years. For that reason, it has been decided to produce one for the Victorian Referees.

The proposal is that it should be a quarterly publication. A copy is attached and is being sent to all VBSA members.

If you would like to receive future copies direct to your email address, please pass on your details to refereesdirector@vbsa.org.au and your name will then be added to the distribution list.

Larry Eforgan, Victorian Director of Referees

Not one speech was made at the championships that failed to mention the referees and rightly so. The winner Steve Mifsud, the runner up Charlie Chafe, the ABSC President Frank Dewens and the TD and VBSA President Paul Cosgriff all had something positive to say.

The referees in question were, in no particular order, Abraham Newman, Praveen Chandra, Neil Brown, Mark Bini, Anuj Rathee, Colin Winter, Kim Ivett, Jim Lewis, Jon Moss and Brendon Lang.

It was originally the intention of Tommy Watson of Tasmania to join the ranks but personal issues finally prevented that.

Brendon Lang was also an entrant in the event itself but made himself available as soon as his match finished on Friday despite a heavy cold, he was fortunately able to be available on Saturday after recovering somewhat overnight.

Colin Winter and Mark Bini also managed to beat the pain barrier to participate as did Kim Ivett, all with various leg and other aches and pains and a big thanks go to all of them.

Neil Brown was once again tireless and completed 8 matches over the weekend, not all of them as easy as the 5 - 0 semi-final that he took charge of on table 5 between eventual winner Steve Mifsud and his victim on this occasion, Matthew Bolton.

The easiest match by far however was the one the gods reserved for myself, ably assisted by George Hoy on the scoreboard. This match was held in the pit between Adrian Ridley and Tyson Crinis, it took 55 minutes to complete the four frames which also included a toilet break and contained 5 breaks over 40. As awesome a display of potting by any player we have ever seen and agreed by both George and myself that it would have been hard even for the players on the professional circuit to have lived with Adrian.

That match was a quarter-final and the semi-final that it got Adrian into was at the other end of the room on table 1 and overseen by our newest Class 1 Snooker referee Kim Ivett. This proved to be another very easy match to referee once the lighting in the room was made satisfactory. Adrian started this match as he had finished his last with breaks of 59 and 61 with a foul by Charlie to let him in which saw the frame score showing a lopsided 124 - 0. This did not faze Charlie in the slightest and he took the next four frames with his own display of attacking snooker to almost make the match a formality. Adrian, not one to give up at any time, did take the 6th frame but Charlie ran out the winner in the 7th frame with another 57 break after making the same score in frame 5.

The quality of the play earlier witnessed in the pit did not desert the final that was so ably officiated by Jim Lewis. Steve Mifsud took the 1st frame, Charlie the 2nd and Steve the 3rd and 4th. Charlie then took another four in a row to leave Steve trailing 3 - 5. Steve Mifsud has not been the Australian Champion 7 times previously without being a very dangerous opponent in that type of situation and so it proved once again as he took the last 3 frames, including  two sizeable breaks, to equal the record of wins for this event with his eighth.

The performance by Jim Lewis in this final was almost flawless apart from one brain fade on the scores at one stage of the match which did not have any bearing on the players or the result. His many years of experience was otherwise on display and he was deservedly thanked for his performance by both players and officials.

We welcome Simon Lo and Anuj Rathee to the refereeing fraternity after their success in gaining Class 3 Snooker accreditation. Both candidates proved to be intelligent and enthusiastic in completing the course and successfull in their examination. They have both committed to being fully inclusive in as many tournaments as they can and will be new yet very welcome faces at Yarraville early next month for the Reventon Classic.

Praveen Chandra had a wish which was to take charge of the Grand Final of the Australian National Championships. The 2017 tournament was where that ambition was realised. The match between winner, Adrian Ridley and runner up, Steve Mifsud despite being played over 11 frames, 9 of which were completed, did not come anywhere near being the most difficult of the weekend. I must say that Praveen did a good job even though nothing contentious came up during the proceedings.

This was not the case for all referees in attendance however. Jim Lewis had a 6 hour match first up, Colin Winter and Mark Bini were both thrown to the wolves with back to back 7 framer's. Colin's legacy was a popped knee which kept him at home the next day unable to walk very far. Mark also suffered as his broken foot was not yet fully healed and he was only able to complete one match on Saturday before succumbing to the pain.

Despite these setbacks the referees performed well enough that nobody noticed them, which is as it should be. Long stints at the tables was the lot for most of them on Friday and Saturday but the result was as smooth a running of a tournament as one could wish for.

Congratulations for a job well done to Praveen, semi final referees Jim Lewis and Abraham Newman along with John and Kim Ivett, Neil Allison, Neil Brown, Mark Bini, Denis Coghlan, Michael Lang, Adam Beitner and Colin Winter from Victoria, with special thanks to Glenn Domeika, who travelled from S.A.

Jon Moss has now completed all his matches in Beijing and is headed home. Lots of positives from the trip and experiences to treasure. He has represented Australia, Victoria and Maccabi with distinction after following in the footsteps of Kim and John Ivett who have both also represented Australia and Victoria in overseas events in recent years. All three have enhanced the growing reputation in far flung corners of the globe of the competence of our referees. 

The Victorian referee convoy on the highway to Albury this year included John and Kim Ivett travelling up with Polly to keep us all under control, Neil Allison after a long absence from the Fred Osbourne, Jon Moss for his first time with myself as his passenger and in transit listener.

A much easier work load than in previous years due to the low entry numbers and the assistance of local referees Leigh Condon, Don Walker and Graham Tucker made the weekend that much more relaxing and enjoyable as we availed ourselves of the very warm welcome and fantastic facilities of the Commercial Club.

The snooker tournament itself was run without a hitch and with little or no controversy, many favourites falling by the wayside and a final contested by one of the old guard in Joe Minici against new blood in the guise of Ryan Thomerson.

This final, as have many others in the past, was overseen by the highly experienced John Ivett conducting things in his own inimitable style. Ryan was the eventual winner taking the final 4 frames to 2 over a rather subdued Joe Minici.

The Victorian State Titles was this year contested using two venues. The referees in attendance at Yarraville were John and Kim Ivett, Neil Allison, Jon Loughron, Neil Brown and Denis Coghlan.

The attendees at Brunswick were unusual because of the fact that all these referees came from the Maccabi Club and to my knowledge the first time that one club has supplied all the referees for one venue. It did not come about through design but because of the venue preference of all referees being taken into account and just the way it turned out.

Those referees were Abraham Newman, Brendon and Michael Lang, Colin Winter, Jon Moss and myself.

With the rescheduling of the quarter finals from Saturday to Sunday morning there was an added necessity for extra troops and the call was answered by Denis Coghlan and Abraham Newman. Neil Brown who was in attendance as a semi final referee did the 3^rd quarter final whilst I took charge of the last one.

John Ivett and Neil then oversaw the two semi finals with Kim Ivett once again and very ably, taking on the final.

Our world travelling referee Kim Ivett is now on her way home from the U.K. after playing a prominent part in the Welsh Open Snooker Championships. In the course of her participation as an official there she has taken charge of matches that have included the players Tom Ford, Jason Weston, Luca Brecel, Ian Burns, Ben Woollaston, Jamie Cope, Dechawat Poomjaeng, Robert Milkins, Ali Carter, Fergal O’Brien, Robin Hull, Mark Allen, Ken Doherty, Joe Perry, Graeme Dott and  Marco Fu. She has also marked for the referees in charge of the matches between Neil Robertson V. Marco Fu and Ronnie O’Sullivan V. Yu De Lu. Some awesome names there I think you would agree, including four world champions.

Safe trip home Kim where a warm and congratulatory welcome awaits.

The attachments here are the general statistics, mostly in chart form, for the refereeing activity in 2015. No stigma or kudos should be attached to the amount of commitment from each referee, as work, study, health and lifestyle will always dictate how much each person is able to contribute. Even officiating in one match adds to the riches that Victoria possesses in its professional guardians of the rules.

A debt of gratitude, duly paid here, is owed by the board and members of the V.B.S.A. as well as the players Australia wide, for the commitment and professionalism displayed by all the Victorian Referees.

Wishing all a restful break and a pleasant festive season.

Here are the chart graphs showing referee activity in all the Melbourne based tournaments for 2015

Adam Beitner, Jon Moss and Colin Winter have joined our ranks with their successful negotiation of the examination for Class 3 Snooker referees.

All three are long time pennant players and members of the Victoria Maccabi Snooker Club and have had a good working knowledge of the rules for some years. Their accreditation as qualified referees comes after some intense sessions with the rule book and assessments of their time at the table. I am sure that all three will in time, enhance the established and enviable reputation of the Victorian referees.

On 16^th of July at the opening ceremony for the Australian Open Billiards Championships Henry Chetcuti was presented with his certificate which shows his status to now be Billiards Class 1.

An overdue and well deserved upgrade due to his work both with Mike D’Silva in previous years and with myself and John Ivett this year in promoting many new Billiards referees.

The latest members of that fraternity were also deservedly honoured with their newly acquired Class 3 certificates at the same time. Welcome Jason Colebrook, Ian Gilbee, Warwick Loton, Jacob Streiff, Mick Williams and Mike Wollin.

Paul Thomerson and Daryl Ferenbach have now both completed the course for referees and have also passed the examination.

They are both very welcome additions to our ranks and Daryl in particular is keen to be active and will soon, I'm sure, be a well known face.

Paul is someone who is familiar to all in the sport and although he is expected to be playing at the pointy end of most tournaments his accreditation will be valuable to him and us in his position as National Coaching Director. Paul has been added to the list of referee profiles with Daryl to follow soon.

All members should have read, understood and agree to abide by the Australian National Anti-Doping Policy, effective from 1 January 2021, and found on the Sport Integrity Australia website being the anti-doping policy adopted by The Australian Billiards & Snooker Council and applicable to all members, participants and non-participants.

I have uploaded a PDF of the stats for the work done in 2014. I do not have individual details for CofM as I wasn't there on the Sat and Sun. But all referees who officiated have a "Y" against their name. The same format is used for other events where I do not have more details. If I have missed anyone, please let me know so I can amend it forthwith. Thanks for all the hard work in 2014...