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Jan Verhaas

20-April-2004

by Kevin Smithers

We last poke to Jan in February 2006 and a lot has happened since then! he has refereed the 2006 World Final between Peter Ebdon and Graeme Dott, which was the latest finishing final to date and was also the first final to be sponsored by 888.com after Embassy had to withdraw their sponsorship due to The Tobacco Advertising and Promotion Act 2002.

Jan Verhaas

Q. So two years on from our last interview and you are refereeing your third career WSC final, how are you feeling to be chosen over some of the relatively new talent on the circuit who have yet to referee a final?

A. I’m over the moon. It’s the biggest match of the season and the one that everyone wants to referee.

Q. There are some rumours that we may be seeing over the next few years some more female refs on the main tour, can you enlighten us any more on this?

A. Obviously Michaela has become one of the top referees on the circuit. There are two others coming through, Patricia Murphy and Anne-Marie Reilly. If they make good progress there could be involved in professional tournaments in the future.

Q. It has been widely talked about on the internet snooker forums that you are having back surgery after the WSC is over, is this going to affect you appearing in the 2008/2009 season at all?

A. No!

Q. I was quite shocked this year to learn that you had been given the final at such an early stage of the event, last year it wasn’t officially released that Eirian Williams was the man for the final until the Semi Final stages, although I think most people guessed by the article in the programmes about him. Has the way a referee is chosen for the final changed in anyway over the past year? Or is it different for every tournament?

A. It’s up to World Snooker when they release it, we referees know before the tournament starts. But there is always a feature about the final referee in the tournament programme World Snooker produce so it’s not a secret.

Q. Probably one of the most memorable games over the past few years that you have overseen was the 2007 Saga Insurance Masters where Ronnie O’Sullivan walked out mid frame, I think we could all see what was going through Stephen Hendry’s mind but what were you thinking at the time?

A. I was gob-smacked, completely stunned.

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