'I featured in UK Championship final and now I'm working at Next'

One of the leading officials in snooker, Tatiana Woollaston, returned to her day job at Next days after officiating the UK Championship final in 2024. The Championship is getting underway once again on Saturday, after Belarus-born and Leicester-based Woollaston was rewarded for her skills and given the job of refereeing Judd Trump's second title win in last year's showpiece at the York Barbican.

Woolaston has officiated at major tournaments such as the World Championship. Yet, the 38-year-old has held a position at the retail giant for over a decade. Speaking before her first major final, she discussed juggling the job with her duties on the table and how she manages the job with her husband Ben, also a professional playeron the circuit.

"I've been with the company for over 10 years now," Woollaston told Eurosport. "They're really excited about me refereeing and really supportive. They let me have the time off, but I'll be back at my desk tomorrow."

"My third job is a mum to two beautiful boys," she added. "They're here supporting me. They're not too much into snooker, but they're here for me."

Woolaston's skills as an official are so renowned that she even drew praise from seven-time world champion Ronnie O'Sullivan. "[She's the] best ref in the world by a mile," O'Sullivan said during the last World Championship, with fellow snooker star Reanne Evans agreeing.

"She's a top ref," she said. "I really rate her, she's a great girl as well. She deserves the final. She's top class and I hope she does get the final next year."

In an interview for Reach's special UK Championship publication, Woolaston admitted that her and Ben's careers are kept separate.

"I don't spend time with Ben while he's practising to help me refereeing-wise," she said. "He's on the circuit as a player. I'm on the circuit as a referee.

"We've never really mix that. I'm obviously not allowed to referee his games, and I wouldn't want to, to be fair. Ben's career is immensely important, but he would never say no to me going to any snooker events because he knows how much I love it.

She added: "If he's out of the event, he'll take over doing school pick-ups and homework. We work around each other while Ben's mum plays a big role helping us with the kids."