Snooker ace Ben Woollaston, who is married to a World Championship referee, has landed a new job after securing his career-best result at the Crucible. The man from Leicester reached the second round after beating Mark Selby in one of the biggest shocks at the tournament. His run was eventually brought to a halt by Si Jiahui, who handed him a 13-10 defeat.
Woollaston’s wife, Tatiana, refereed at the Crucible this year and made her debut at snooker’s biggest event in 2020. She is not allowed to officiate her husband’s matches due to the conflict of interest that would potentially exist. Outside of snooker, Tatiana has another job at the head office of clothing firm Next.
Her husband has also taken up another role away from the snooker table, having been appointed to the WPBSA governance board. On Wednesday, the body announced that Woollaston had been made a non-executive director with immediate effect.
Jason Ferguson, chairman of the WPBSA, said: “We are pleased to welcome Ben to the WPBSA board, which follows his election to the board of WPBSA players last December.
“A professional for over 20 years, Ben has just enjoyed arguably the best season of his career, highlighted by his memorable victory against four-time world champion Mark Selby at the World Championship.
“Ben is ideally suited to this new role, as a player of great integrity and who is well thought of by his peers.
“It has been positive to see him take a keen interest in coaching in recent years, becoming one of our WPBSA 1st4sport Level 2 Coaches and sharing his knowledge with aspiring players of all levels.”
