Is this shot legal in Chinese 8 Ball? Yes / No ?

[skipbales]

For those that didn't know you can go frame by frame in youtube by using the < > keys.

It is crazy close but going frame by frame you can see the 6 move right before the 6 hits the rail. It is legal hit, but yeah I would've had trouble making that call.

Great tip on the frame by frame. Thank you.

To me the decision frame doesn't tell the story without argument. The cue ball has a "halo" which makes it a little unclear. It appears to me the cue ball first touches the 6 at the exact same time it first touches the rail and moves the 6 as the cue ball compresses the rail then gains speed as the cue ball rebounds.

I don't even know how a simultaneous hit like that would be called, never thought of that as a possibility.

 

[RussPrince]

yup definately legal. using the <> keys made it a simple matter to see that the six moves one a frame before the cueball bounces off the rail. 100% legal

 

[Bob Jewett]

... I don't even know how a simultaneous hit like that would be called, never thought of that as a possibility.

Well, the WSR are not explicit about this but I would go with the split hit rule and say that if the ball/rail order cannot be determined, it is judged in favor of the shooter:

27. SPLIT HITS
If the cue ball strikes a legal object ball and a non-legal object ball at approximately the same instant, and it cannot be determined which ball was hit first, it will be assumed that the legal target was struck first.​

In the situation like the one in the video where the object ball is close to the cushion (less than a ball off the cushion), it is possible for the cue ball to just barely touch the cushion first and then as it is starting to go into the cushion hit the object ball and then go further into the cushion and eventually leave the cushion.

This situation actually comes up fairly often in the game of 3-cushion billiards where the intent is to hit the rail, leave the rail, hit the object ball, return to the same rail for a second rail count and then continue to more rail(s) and then the second object ball. If the object ball is within a diameter of the cushion, the cue ball might not leave the cushion before it hits the object ball. In theory that would be a single rail contact. In practice the referee and players judge the shot by the action of the cue ball. The actual rule states:

... the cue-ball must have come into contact at least three times with one or several cushions before touching the second object-ball ...
​

but there is no "split-hit" guidance.