I know you ran a lot of tournaments and were probably a ref in many as well, but this suprizes me that you would allow the brigde to be used like this.
It's not being used as support for the cue as you would with your own hand, it's being used to support the hand. It would be like asking a bystander to hold my hand up a bit to help me hold it steady.
I agree. This sentence from the WPA rules has already been quoted in this thread: "The equipment must be used only for the purpose or in the manner that the equipment was intended." And here is corroborating language from the WPA equipment specs:
"
18. Mechanical Bridge
The mechanical bridge, also called rake, crutch or rest, is an accessory of the billiard sports table and consists of
a stick with a bridge head mounted at its end to support the shaft of the cue stick replacing the hand bridge during shots difficult to reach. The stick or handle of the mechanical bridge is very similar in shape to the cue stick. The bridge
head has notches or grooves, usually at various heights, in which the cue shaft can rest. The contour of the bridge head should be smooth in order not to mar the cue shaft or rip the threads of the table-cloth when being used."
Note the portion that I made blue.
Were I the ref, in a match using WPA rules, using the mechanical bridge in the manner pictured at the start of this thread would not be legal.