Jan Verhaas

Jan Verhaas became the first non-Briton to referee the World Championship final when he donned the white gloves at the Crucible Theatre in 2003.

The 40-year-old from Holland described the world final as “the pinnacle of a referee’s career.’’ Verhaas, whose suave demeanour earned him the nickname ‘James Bond’ from fans at 2002 China Open, first refereed in local tournaments and pro-ams at a club in Rotterdam.

Date of Birth: October 5, 1966

Born: Maassluis, Holland

Lives: Brielle, Holland

Highest break: 78 – never got near it before or since.

Qualified as Referee: Class 3 in 1990, Class 1 in 1995.

First Pro Match: Tony Drago v Steve Davis in 1993.

Most memorable match: Refereeing the three Paul Hunter Wembley Masters finals.

Most embarrassing moment: Oversleeping twice in one day before a Premier League match at Cleethorpes.

If you weren’t a referee what would you do: I’d probably still be working as a process operator for Shell Chemicals.

Which is the toughest rule to apply: The push shot is very difficult to judge. I normally go off the honesty of the players.

Which rule would you scrap: None, in particular.

What do you carry in your pockets: Two ball markers, pen and coin (two and half gilders).

Where do you get your gloves: From fellow referee Paul Collier. I would normally use six pairs per season.

Interests: Open water diving, watching football, playing and watching darts, poker.

Since the beginning of this session, Ronnie hasn’t won one frame and Neil Robertson caught up putting the game into a tie. As I’ve said earlier, another day, another luck for Ronnie O’Sullivan… Let’s hope he’ll get back into form soon enough…

Neil Robertson is now in the lead 9-8 against Ronnie, both of them play pretty good but the level of play isn’t really high, we don’t get to see 100+ breaks for now…

Ronnie replies with a 100+ break but Neil wins the next frame and is in the lead again. Ronnie shouldn’t have allowed Neil’s come-back earlier today, he might live to regret that.

Ronnie is back in the lead after stealing the frame away from Neil. Incredibly, Neil was a shot away from winning this frame but missed the last ball he needed to secure victory and Ronnie didn’t wait long to win the frame.

The match got pretty even but I bet Ronnie’s fans are not relaxed as Neil Robertson gained pretty easily the lead of the game. It’s not usual for Ronnie to tail behind, he should have ended this long time ago, would argue his fans.

The 20th frame has its sense of humor, the first points, on both sides have been gained through fouls. The first one by Ronnie, resulted in a break-up of the reds pack and if Neil Robertson would have called a replay the ref would have had a hard time putting the balls back in order. But Neil accepts the position and pots the red… together with the white.

Ronnie steals the frame away from Neil, he was one shot away from victory but misses that last ball he needed and Ronnie doesn’t loose the oportunity to gain back the lead of the game.

I’ve seen so many mistakes and missed shots in this match it’s not about who misses anymore, it’s about who can play decently enough to win, that’s how much the level of play has fallen. It’s funny to see spring-loaded Ronnie jump up from his seat with every miss of Neil Robertson’s.

Ronnie is now one frame away from victory and Neil Robertson is back in the hotseat as his chances don’t look so well…

If Ronnie is to win this last frame and the match he is heading on to play against John Higgins, the player with the greatest achievements in snooker next to Ronnie left in the competition in the quarter finals. A match fit for the finals if you ask me.

It’s the last frame and Ronnie doesn’t hesitate to show off his talent. He fluked one of the shots and apologised but the shots he pulls now are great, some of the pressure must be off his shoulders now that he has a comfortable lead as is as close to victory as ever. The points go up and Ronnie’s average shot time comes down as the “Rocket” picks up speed and secures victory in this match, he is going to the quarters for a shot against Higgins.

The match between Stephen Hendry and Allister Carter just ended. After winning another two frames Stephen Hendry lost with a score of 13-6 as Carter only needed one frame to win.

The match between Ronnie O’Sullivan and Neil robertson continues now on TV. Ronnie looked like he was going to have another wasy win yesterday as we’ve seen the first two sessions unfold with Neil Robertson only winning two of the 8 frames played. But as we all know Ronnie, another day may mean another luck.

Ronnie’s long expected match in the second round has just started. Ronnie is playing against Neil Robertson after easing past Ding Junhui. Neil Robertson has faced Ryan Day in the first round and defeated him 10-5.

Neil Robertson nails the first frame of the match but Ronnie takes the second. We are watching impressive breaks being achieved in what appears to become a very exciting match.

O’Sullivan wins the third and the fourth frames and is now in the lead by two, the score is 3-1 at the end of the first session of the match.

Ronnie is playing great these days at the Crucible, he is widening the lead between him and Robertson to 3 frames now and looks unstopable.

In the meantime the 5th frame of the match between Peter Ebdon and Mark Selby has ended, Mark Selby is in the lead by one. The score is 3-2.

“The Rocket” is up to speed and in the lead 5-1 against Neil Robertson. If Neil is going to allow Ronnie a 6 frames lead at the end of this session he’s only stepping in Dings footsteps towards defeat. If Neil wants to have any chances in winning this match he has to keep up with Ronnie.

After a great beggining in the match, when Joe Swail actually tried to achieve a 147 break. He seems to have lost it, Stephen Maguire is now in the lead by no less than 5 frames with a score of 8-3… I don’t personally thing Jow Swail has any chance of recovery in this match, maybe after a good night sleep if he manages to hold on to the match until the end of today’s session.

The session between the two has ended at the score of 8-4 in Maguire’s favor. Swail does have chances of recovery though, he is only 4 frames behind and we have seen how determined he is to win when he was up against Mark Williams in the first round.

It’s the second round… After defeating Ken Doherty in the first, Mark Allen has a hard time in the match he’s up against Matthew Stevens. Stevens has won all the frames in the first part of the match and had the lead at 4-0 before Mark even won one of the frames. The score is now 4-1…

Mark Allen’s game is not working well, he’s 4 frames behind while MAtthew Stevens is only 5 frames away from victory in this match. Mark has to work hard to catch up if he wants a shot at victory.

10am

Stephen Maguire – Joe Swail

John Parrott – Shaun Murphy

2.30pm

Ian McCulloch – Anthony Hamilton

Mark Allen – Matthew Stevens

7pm

Stephen Maguire – Joe Swail

John Parrott – Shaun Murphy

Molly Newbold, a 15-year-old from Derby, is already planning a future career on the green baize - not with a cue though, but with a spotless pair of white gloves.

In fact, her refereeing skills have already been put to the test at this year’s 888.com World Championship having officiated several Junior Pot Black matches.

So how does a normal schoolgirl who has yet to take her GCSEs at Wilsthorpe School, Derby, get so interested in snooker?

“It was about two years ago when I was watching the Masters with my dad,” she said. “I saw Michaela Tabb refereeing a match and I said I would like to do that.

“I had already met Neil Robertson and I gave him a letter for her, asking how I could get started. Michaela was great and rang me up straight away and gave me loads of advice.

“We have since stayed in touch and we talk all the time now. She has helped me at every stage.”

Molly has now reached Grade 3 but it will take another two years before she gets to Grade 2, so her ambition to referee on the professional snooker circuit remains a long way off.

In the meantime, Tabb, now a familiar face on television and who has been a professional referee since 2001, is giving her plenty of encouragement.

“Molly is absolutely terrific,” said Dunfermline’s Tabb. “She’s very enthusiastic, loves the game, knows the rules and gets on with all the players.

“She needs to keep refereeing matches to get the necessary experience, whether it’s kids or ladies tournaments. So the Junior Pot Black at the Crucible is perfect practise for her.

“Who knows, one day she may well end up doing an 888.com World Snooker Championship match here.”

–worldsnooker.com

After the match against David Gilbert:

“I thought my attitude and concentration was fantastic through the whole match, which is something I had been working hard on,” Hendry said. “If my attitude had been better last year I wouldn’t have lost in the first round.

“I could easily have chucked this match at 5-1 down, so I’m delighted with the way I dug in and won nine of the next 11 frames. I thought that was a tremendous performance.”

eurosport

In the morning session’s other match, Neil Robertson took 3-0 lead before the Welshman Ryan Day fought back.

The match between Stephen Lee and Mark Selby seemed to be over long time ago, Stephen Lee had a crushing 5-0 advantage but Mark Selby managed to surprise us all and won 6 frames straight and is now in the lead 6-5, it’s a beautiful match between these two.

Mark Selby is on a winnink streak, he won 8 frames in a row and is now in the lead 8-5, he is surprising to say the least.

Not only did Mark Selby recover after Stephen Lee was in the lead by 5 frames but is now about to win the frame and the match by 3 frames. Mark will meet Peter Ebdon in the second tour of the competition.