Tatiana Woollaston (born Tatiana Torchilo, alternative spelling Tatiana Tarchyla, , 8 November 1986 in

Pinsk Pinsk (; , ; ; ; ) is a city in Brest Region, Belarus. It serves as the administrative center of Pinsk District, though it is administratively separated from the district. It is located in the historical region of Polesia, at the confluence of t ...

Soviet Union The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...

)Official Belarusian Snooker Federation Website
is a professional

snooker Snooker (pronounced , ) is a cue sport played on a rectangular Billiard table#Snooker and English billiards tables, billiards table covered with a green cloth called baize, with six Billiard table#Pockets 2, pockets: one at each corner and ...

referee. She is an official referee of the

WPBSA The World Professional Billiards and Snooker Association (WPBSA) is the governing body of professional snooker and English billiards. It is headquartered in Bristol, England. Founded as the Professional Billiard Players Association (PBPA) in ...

, EASB, EBSA and BSF.EASB Official Referees
Retrieved 19 October 2011

Career

Snooker referee

In March 2008, Woollaston started refereeing amateur snooker events in Belarus. She qualified as a Class 3 snooker referee a year later in March 2009, during European Team Snooker Championship in

St. Petersburg Saint Petersburg, formerly known as Petrograd and later Leningrad, is the second-largest city in Russia after Moscow. It is situated on the River Neva, at the head of the Gulf of Finland on the Baltic Sea. The city had a population of 5,601, ...

Russia Russia, or the Russian Federation, is a country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia. It is the list of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the world, and extends across Time in Russia, eleven time zones, sharing Borders ...

, and became a referee member of European Billiards and Snooker Association. In May 2010, she refereed the European Individual Snooker Championship in

Bucharest Bucharest ( , ; ) is the capital and largest city of Romania. The metropolis stands on the River Dâmbovița (river), Dâmbovița in south-eastern Romania. Its population is officially estimated at 1.76 million residents within a greater Buc ...

Romania Romania is a country located at the crossroads of Central Europe, Central, Eastern Europe, Eastern and Southeast Europe. It borders Ukraine to the north and east, Hungary to the west, Serbia to the southwest, Bulgaria to the south, Moldova to ...

. Woollaston made her ranking tournament debut in August 2010 at European Players Tour Championships event one ( Paul Hunter Classic 2010) in

Fürth Fürth (; East Franconian German, East Franconian: ; ) is a List of cities and towns in Germany, city in northern Bavaria, Germany, in the administrative division (''Regierungsbezirk'') of Middle Franconia. It is the Franconia#Towns and cities, s ...

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

. On 21 November 2010, Woollaston became the first referee from Eastern Europe to officiate at a world-ranking snooker semi-final at the Euro Players Tour Championship event six in

Prague Prague ( ; ) is the capital and List of cities and towns in the Czech Republic, largest city of the Czech Republic and the historical capital of Bohemia. Prague, located on the Vltava River, has a population of about 1.4 million, while its P ...

, the

Czech Republic The Czech Republic, also known as Czechia, and historically known as Bohemia, is a landlocked country in Central Europe. The country is bordered by Austria to the south, Germany to the west, Poland to the northeast, and Slovakia to the south ...

, as

John Higgins John Higgins (born 18 May 1975) is a Scottish professional snooker player from Wishaw in North Lanarkshire. Since turning professional in 1992, he has won 33 ranking titles, placing him in third position on the List of snooker players by num ...

defeated Joe Jogia by 4 frames to 2. In 2011, Woollaston qualified as a Class 2 snooker referee, and joined EASB as an official referee. She made her television debut live on

Eurosport Eurosport is a group of pay television networks in Europe and parts of Asia, owned and operated by Warner Bros. Discovery through its WBD Sports unit, it operates two main channels—Eurosport 1 and Eurosport 2—across most of its territorie ...

at the Paul Hunter Classic later that year.First TV frame of Tatiana Woollaston in live coverage. Eurosport channel.
/ref> She refereed her 1st Triple Crown final at the

2024 UK Championship The 2024 UK Championship (officially the 2024 Victorian Plumbing UK Championship) was a professional snooker tournament that took place from 23 November to 1 December 2024 at the York Barbican in York, England. The 48th edition of the ...

Personal life

She graduated from Belarus State Economic University, where she studied finance, banking and credit. She received a

master's degree A master's degree (from Latin ) is a postgraduate academic degree awarded by universities or colleges upon completion of a course of study demonstrating mastery or a high-order overview of a specific field of study or area of professional prac ...

economics Economics () is a behavioral science that studies the Production (economics), production, distribution (economics), distribution, and Consumption (economics), consumption of goods and services. Economics focuses on the behaviour and interac ...

. Before moving to the UK, she worked as a teacher at Belarus State Economic University in Minsk. She married

Ben Woollaston Ben Woollaston (born 14 May 1987) is an English professional snooker player from Leicester. His sole professional title came at the minor-ranking Players Tour Championship 2011/2012 – Event 3, third Players Tour Championship event in 2011. W ...

, a professional snooker player, in June 2011. Later that year, she moved to the UK, and now lives with her husband in

Leicester Leicester ( ) is a city status in the United Kingdom, city, Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority area, and the county town of Leicestershire in the East Midlands of England. It is the largest city in the East Midlands with a popula ...

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

. Her husband had won the

Players Tour Championship The Players Tour Championship was a series of snooker tournaments comprising some minor-ranking events played in Europe, and an Asian leg comprising some minor-ranking events in Asia. The series concluded with a Players Championship Grand Final, ...

event three in Sheffield the day before she moved to the UK. They have two sons, born on 8 November 2012 and 21 October 2017.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Woollaston, Tatiana 1986 births Living people Sportspeople from Pinsk Belarusian emigrants to England Snooker referees and officials Belarus State Economic University alumni Women referees and umpires Academic staff of Belarus State Economic University