Tatiana Woollaston, one of the most highly-regarded referees at the World Snooker Championship, is strictly barred from officiating in matches featuring one specific player: her husband, Ben. The Belarus-born, Leicester-based official has overseen fixtures involving virtually all of snooker's biggest names, with the obvious exception of her spouse.
The couple, who married in 2011 and have two children together, are adamant about maintaining firm professional boundaries. Ahead of the 2024 UK Championship, Woollaston 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 identical tournaments, including the World Championship.
This year, however, Woollaston will not face the challenge of monitoring Ben's matches, as he failed to qualify for the Worlds, which is currently taking place. Discussing how they maintain those boundaries, 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."
Woollaston's credentials as an official are held in the highest regard. She has even drawn praise from seven-time world champion Ronnie O'Sullivan, who said during the last World Championship: "[She's the] best ref in the world by a mile." Fellow snooker star Reanne Evans agreed, stating: "She's a top ref. 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."
Despite earning widespread recognition throughout the sport, Woollaston has kept her position at high street retailer Next for well over 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."
Her first and greatest passion, however, remains snooker—a love affair that began when she first caught the game on Russian-language Eurosport as a youngster. 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."
