Most famous female snooker referees

We take a look at some of the highest-profile female snooker officials as more and more women continue to forge impressive careers for themselves on the professional tour.

Who are the most famous female snooker referees?

• Michaela Tabb
• Tattiana Woolaston
• Desislava Bozhilova
• Proletina Velichkova
• Eva Poskocilova
• Hilde Moens
• Luise Kraatz
• Maike Kesseler
• Malgorzata Kanieska
• Monika Sułkowska
• Peggy Li

Michaela Tabb

A true trailblazer for the modern-day female officials, Michaela Tabb will be a more than familiar name to cue sports fans of a certain vintage.

Born and raised in Scotland, Tabb spent 14 years on the World Snooker Tour, establishing herself as one of the best officials in the game, and opening the door to a large number of women all wanting to follow in her footsteps.

Now more synonymous with the World Nine-ball Tour, she initially qualified to referee professional snooker matches back in 2001, before going on to become the first woman to officiate at a professional ranking snooker tournament at the following year's Welsh Open.

Tabb was also the first woman to referee a ranking tournament final at the same event in 2007, whilst the honour that was bestowed upon her in 2009 and 2012, in overseeing the World Snooker Championship finals, meant that up until 2025, she was the only woman to take charge of a Crucible final.

Tattiana Woolaston

Inspired by Michaela Tabb, Tattiana Woolaston is one of the most highest-regarded referees in world snooker having now officiated on the tour since 2010.

Born in Belarus, Woolaston first fell in love with the game whilst watching as a youngster with her father, before making the decision to follow in the footsteps of Tabb after asking for an opportunity to oversee a game at a local tournament in her home city.

She is now regarded as one of the top officials in the game having refereed her first televised ranking match in 2015, before being selected to officiate at the World Snooker Championship in 2020 for the first time.

Regarded by Ronnie O'Sullivan as the best official on the WST, Woolaston was handed the reins for her first Triple Crown final in 2024, handling proceedings as Judd Trump overcame Barry Hawkins 10-8 at the York Barbican.

Which snooker player is married to a referee?

As well as being a highly-regarded official on the tour, Tattiana Woolaston is also married to 2015 Welsh Open finalist Ben Woolaston, with whom she has two children.

The two first met at the 2010 Paul Hunter Classic, in Prague, before tying the not together a year later in Pinks, Belarus - Tattiana's home town - just 10 months later.

Desislava Bozhilova

Desislava Bozhilova is another of the recent influx of female officials, and somebody who made history by becoming the first female official to take charge of all three Triple Crown finals.

Of Bulgarian heritage, Bozhilova passed her international refereeing exams in 2012 and took charge of her first ranking event final four years later at the 2016 Riga Masters, in Latvia.

A regular and committed player of both pool and snooker, she became just the second female official, following Michaela Tabb, to oversee a Triple Crown final, at the 2022 Masters.

Bozhilova earned huge praise for the way she carried out her duties on the grandest stage, and as a reward, was handed the reins for the UK Championship final later in the same year, before taking charge of the 2025 World Snooker Championship showpiece between Zhao Xintong and Mark Williams.

Instantly recognisable with her long blonde hair and bold black glasses, Bozhilova has been involved in six matches which have seen maximum 147 breaks, two of which came at the 2024 Masters at London's Alexandra Palace.

Proletina Velichkova

A compatriot and close friend of Desislava Bozhilova, Proletina Velichkova made her breakthrough on the professional circuit via the European Tour.

She officiated her first match on the WST on home soil at the 2012 Bulgarian Open, just 18 months after spotting an advert in a newspaper for Bulgarian snooker referees.

Since then, Velichkova has gone from strength to strength, cementing herself as a major ranking event regular, taking charge of numerous matches in the Home Nations Series over the past couple of years.

In 2022, Velchkova - who also holds a degree in Scandinavian studies, and graphic and motion design - oversaw Mark Selby’s fourth professional maximum break in his victory over Jack Lisowski at the British Open.