I'm sure this rule has been discussed here before, so sorry if it is a duplicate thread but am bringing this up as the situation came up in my regional 14.1 tournament in Paris on Saturday.
Midway through the match, my opponent scratched with the CB in a pocket so I had BIH from the kitchen. The balls were situated near the racking area in such a way that I didn't want to disturb them and risk selling out a ball, not uncommon in 14.1 I think.
My preferred shot was therefore to play an intentional foul and take the 1-point penalty, safe in the knowledge that my opponent had fouled on the previous shot and would be the first to get to 3 consecutive fouls if she chose to continue the sequence of intentional fouls.
I wanted to check my shot with the tournament director before playing it, as I had seen a shot contested on another table during the competition, which was kinda similar. The TD said I had to shoot the CB out of the kitchen, so I placed the CB on the headstring near to one of the long rails. I shot into the opposite long rail with inside english, so the CB went out of the kitchen, span back into the kitchen off the first rail, contacted the second rail on the side I shot from and eventually came to rest in the jaws of the corner pocket.
My opponent chose to kick two rails behind the stack (not sure if this was an intentional foul or an attempted safety) and sold out. I ran 14 and then 9 on my next inning to win the match.
I guess I was slightly fortunate as I left my opponent corner-hooked where I could have easily scratched. However, in my opponent's position I would have chosen to take the second foul intentionally and shoot from a better CB position next time.
I don't see why in the first place I couldn't have just placed the CB on the headrail and rolled it an inch along the rail. Apparently the reason is because it could be interpreted as somehow more unsportsmanlike, although the TD said the penalty would have been the same (a foul and -1 point).
If intentional fouls are accepted when the CB is close to the stack in the racking area, should they not also be accepted when the CB is in the kitchen? I see parallels with the game of one pocket, where players often reposition the CB with no attempt to contact an object ball, choosing to take the 1 ball penalty.
Or is having BIH in the kitchen in 14.1 a unique situation which requires you to shoot out of the kitchen for it to be considered 'a shot'? In that case, surely intentionally not doing so i.e. repositioning the CB within the kitchen, should have a greater penalty than simply -1 point.
Incidentally the rules we use (in French) come from the FFB and are on page 25 of this doc: http://www.ffbillard.com/global/telechargements/file.php?id=27589. This specific situation doesn't seem to be covered, so I think maybe the federation should add something to the rules to make it clear.
And the situation on the other table was slightly different in that a player had his opponent on 2 fouls and chose to play the CB from the middle of the table (no BIH) back into the kitchen with no attempt to contact an object ball.
I guess the main question in all this is whether any of the shots would or should be considered unsportsmanlike behaviour. Personally I think both shots were fine but I don't think everyone will see things in the same way!
All opinions/facts welcome please
Midway through the match, my opponent scratched with the CB in a pocket so I had BIH from the kitchen. The balls were situated near the racking area in such a way that I didn't want to disturb them and risk selling out a ball, not uncommon in 14.1 I think.
My preferred shot was therefore to play an intentional foul and take the 1-point penalty, safe in the knowledge that my opponent had fouled on the previous shot and would be the first to get to 3 consecutive fouls if she chose to continue the sequence of intentional fouls.
I wanted to check my shot with the tournament director before playing it, as I had seen a shot contested on another table during the competition, which was kinda similar. The TD said I had to shoot the CB out of the kitchen, so I placed the CB on the headstring near to one of the long rails. I shot into the opposite long rail with inside english, so the CB went out of the kitchen, span back into the kitchen off the first rail, contacted the second rail on the side I shot from and eventually came to rest in the jaws of the corner pocket.
My opponent chose to kick two rails behind the stack (not sure if this was an intentional foul or an attempted safety) and sold out. I ran 14 and then 9 on my next inning to win the match.
I guess I was slightly fortunate as I left my opponent corner-hooked where I could have easily scratched. However, in my opponent's position I would have chosen to take the second foul intentionally and shoot from a better CB position next time.
I don't see why in the first place I couldn't have just placed the CB on the headrail and rolled it an inch along the rail. Apparently the reason is because it could be interpreted as somehow more unsportsmanlike, although the TD said the penalty would have been the same (a foul and -1 point).
If intentional fouls are accepted when the CB is close to the stack in the racking area, should they not also be accepted when the CB is in the kitchen? I see parallels with the game of one pocket, where players often reposition the CB with no attempt to contact an object ball, choosing to take the 1 ball penalty.
Or is having BIH in the kitchen in 14.1 a unique situation which requires you to shoot out of the kitchen for it to be considered 'a shot'? In that case, surely intentionally not doing so i.e. repositioning the CB within the kitchen, should have a greater penalty than simply -1 point.
Incidentally the rules we use (in French) come from the FFB and are on page 25 of this doc: http://www.ffbillard.com/global/telechargements/file.php?id=27589. This specific situation doesn't seem to be covered, so I think maybe the federation should add something to the rules to make it clear.
And the situation on the other table was slightly different in that a player had his opponent on 2 fouls and chose to play the CB from the middle of the table (no BIH) back into the kitchen with no attempt to contact an object ball.
I guess the main question in all this is whether any of the shots would or should be considered unsportsmanlike behaviour. Personally I think both shots were fine but I don't think everyone will see things in the same way!
All opinions/facts welcome please
