September 6th, 2010
https://www.snookerisland.com/blog/michaela-tabb-interview/
Started out as a pool referee, added snooker
So there was an opportunity there to change the profile a little bit which they hadn’t been able to do before and have a female involved
RC: What about pool players? When you started reffing pool were you aware of any of the big names?
MT: I honestly didn’t have a clue who any of them were!
my all-time favourite and he always will be is Efren Reyes. I can always say that there’s never been anybody on that pool table who I’ve never known what they were going to do other than Efren. He pulls off shots that I would never have dreamed of were possible. Unbelievable!
RC: How do you think he would fare at snooker?
MT: He can actually play the game. I remember him and Earl (Strickland) had a challenge match and I’m sure it was Efren who won it. I don’t know how he would compete against our guys, but he could put his hand to anything, he is one of these superbly naturally talented guys.
MT: The only thing there is that snooker is far far harder than 9 ball pool and the pool players would definitely struggle. They can obviously play because it’s another cue sport you adjust to, but I don’t think they would be able to compete with the professional snooker players.
RC: Do you think the snooker players could compete at pool?
MT: Yes they can but it’s a learning experience. They would need to dedicate themselves to it. Steve Davis tried it and he did ok but I believe it screwed up his snooker cue action so it’s got to be a matter of dedicating yourself to one or the other.
RC: Do you miss refereeing Earl Strickland?
MT: (laughs) I actually have a lot of respect for Earl. He’s quite similar to my husband although he won’t like me saying it, but Earl’s an older player and he is extremely talented, and what happens now is that he doesn’t have the ability that he used to have, and he takes that frustration out at the table.
Earl definitely spiced things up and I can’t say that I didn’t enjoy it because most matches you’re just standing there and nothing else out of the ordinary is happening, but you always knew you would be in for an exciting time when you reffed Earl.
MT: I always looked forward to reffing Earl. Through a period of time I knew that he would never win over me, and I don’t mean that in a negative way just that I learned how to ref him and where the line was, and he learned where the line was. So when it got to the stage where I had to say “Ok that’s enough” or “I’m going to foul you”, he never stepped over that line. And that’s something I learned with experience, how to deal with him. It was good then because we both got to know where we stood so he got to throw himself about a little bit, but he also knew if I said to him “That’s it!” then that was it.
RC: I guess where the question comes from is the time he told you to “Shut up!” and you then gave him a good bollocking, and then he brought you some flowers at the start of the next match.
MT: Yes I really appreciated that a lot. The thing you’ve got to remember is that 9 ball pool is not the professional game snooker is and it never has been. It has only ever been a pub game and a hustling game. What they’re trying to do now is to try and make it more of a professional game and we’re already there with snooker and have been for a long time. So with him, we had a fall out, it was dealt with and he was warned, and we brought in some other guidelines following that actually because that was the first time anybody had had to deal with such a thing in the world of 9 ball. But for him to publically apologise on live TV in front of the world, that was massive because that was him showing the world that he knew he was wrong and it was really appreciated.
MT: Honestly he just blathers away, and I think half the time he’s trying to get under the skin of the opponent, and he’s also trying to get himself up and get a bit of fire in his belly to perform, and that’s where I understand because he’s not playing as good as he used to.
RC: Next question is from case_master: Do you make a full time living out of snooker?
MT: No I don’t because I choose only to work part time because I’ve got a family, two young boys and my husband. We have our own company as well running pool tournaments,
MT: Well I started playing properly in 1991, and by 1992 I was asked if I would play for Scotland for the ladies international team. And I stayed in the team until after I started refereeing snooker, and in that time we won a number of World Championships. My best achievements myself were winning the British Championships and the Europeans. So I was quite handy!
https://www.snookerisland.com/blog/michaela-tabb-interview/
Started out as a pool referee, added snooker
So there was an opportunity there to change the profile a little bit which they hadn’t been able to do before and have a female involved
RC: What about pool players? When you started reffing pool were you aware of any of the big names?
MT: I honestly didn’t have a clue who any of them were!
my all-time favourite and he always will be is Efren Reyes. I can always say that there’s never been anybody on that pool table who I’ve never known what they were going to do other than Efren. He pulls off shots that I would never have dreamed of were possible. Unbelievable!
RC: How do you think he would fare at snooker?
MT: He can actually play the game. I remember him and Earl (Strickland) had a challenge match and I’m sure it was Efren who won it. I don’t know how he would compete against our guys, but he could put his hand to anything, he is one of these superbly naturally talented guys.
MT: The only thing there is that snooker is far far harder than 9 ball pool and the pool players would definitely struggle. They can obviously play because it’s another cue sport you adjust to, but I don’t think they would be able to compete with the professional snooker players.
RC: Do you think the snooker players could compete at pool?
MT: Yes they can but it’s a learning experience. They would need to dedicate themselves to it. Steve Davis tried it and he did ok but I believe it screwed up his snooker cue action so it’s got to be a matter of dedicating yourself to one or the other.
RC: Do you miss refereeing Earl Strickland?
MT: (laughs) I actually have a lot of respect for Earl. He’s quite similar to my husband although he won’t like me saying it, but Earl’s an older player and he is extremely talented, and what happens now is that he doesn’t have the ability that he used to have, and he takes that frustration out at the table.
Earl definitely spiced things up and I can’t say that I didn’t enjoy it because most matches you’re just standing there and nothing else out of the ordinary is happening, but you always knew you would be in for an exciting time when you reffed Earl.
MT: I always looked forward to reffing Earl. Through a period of time I knew that he would never win over me, and I don’t mean that in a negative way just that I learned how to ref him and where the line was, and he learned where the line was. So when it got to the stage where I had to say “Ok that’s enough” or “I’m going to foul you”, he never stepped over that line. And that’s something I learned with experience, how to deal with him. It was good then because we both got to know where we stood so he got to throw himself about a little bit, but he also knew if I said to him “That’s it!” then that was it.
RC: I guess where the question comes from is the time he told you to “Shut up!” and you then gave him a good bollocking, and then he brought you some flowers at the start of the next match.
MT: Yes I really appreciated that a lot. The thing you’ve got to remember is that 9 ball pool is not the professional game snooker is and it never has been. It has only ever been a pub game and a hustling game. What they’re trying to do now is to try and make it more of a professional game and we’re already there with snooker and have been for a long time. So with him, we had a fall out, it was dealt with and he was warned, and we brought in some other guidelines following that actually because that was the first time anybody had had to deal with such a thing in the world of 9 ball. But for him to publically apologise on live TV in front of the world, that was massive because that was him showing the world that he knew he was wrong and it was really appreciated.
MT: Honestly he just blathers away, and I think half the time he’s trying to get under the skin of the opponent, and he’s also trying to get himself up and get a bit of fire in his belly to perform, and that’s where I understand because he’s not playing as good as he used to.
RC: Next question is from case_master: Do you make a full time living out of snooker?
MT: No I don’t because I choose only to work part time because I’ve got a family, two young boys and my husband. We have our own company as well running pool tournaments,
MT: Well I started playing properly in 1991, and by 1992 I was asked if I would play for Scotland for the ladies international team. And I stayed in the team until after I started refereeing snooker, and in that time we won a number of World Championships. My best achievements myself were winning the British Championships and the Europeans. So I was quite handy!
