THE INQUIRY into the controversial refereeing decision that turned the Shanghai Masters final has been concluded by the WPBSA.

Eventual winner Mark Selby hit a high speed ‘hit and hope’ shot while trailing Mark Williams 9-7, and it was not clear whether the cue ball struck the red or pink first.

The match was delayed for several minutes while referee Eirian Williams had to make a difficult call as to which ball Selby had hit first.

The referee quickly got into a discussion with Williams, who was adament it had struck the pink first, and a miss was called. (Mark) Williams asked for the replay to be used to prove the point unequivocally, only to be informed by the referee that the technology was not available. Meanwhile, Selby sportingly agreed to accept his opponent’s verdict.

An official then let it be known that there were screens in the arena that could provide the replay, and Eirian Williams was keen to view it. After taking several minutes to look at the replays on two separate monitors, he decided it had hit the red first and therefore no foul was called. The verdict has been supported by most people with sufficient expertise in the game to pass judgement.

The incident was to prove a pivotal turning point in the match. Mark Williams struggled to regain his concentration and Selby won the remaining three frames to win the title.

Fllowing the conclusion of the inquiry, WPBSA chairman Jason Ferguson said: “Whilst this inquiry was not to establish which ball was hit first, we have now analysed footage of the incident and whilst we would still say that the analysis is inconclusive, there is overwhelming opinion that the cue ball struck the red first. With this in mind we believe the referee’s original decision not to call the foul was correct.

“In these situations the WPBSA rule (Section 5 Subsection 1 (c)) states:
‘If the referee has failed to notice any incident, he may at his discretion take the evidence of the marker or other officials or spectators best placed for the observation, or may view a camera/video recording of the incident to assist his decision.’

“The question does raise itself as to whether a player has the right to call for this analysis. The WPBSA rules also clearly state that ‘the referee shall be the sole judge of fair and unfair play’, and therefore it is ONLY the referee that can ask for assistance either from the scorer, spectator or video replay if available.

“Formal guidelines on the interpretation of this rule will now been issued to referees by WPBSA Director of Rules Alan Chamberlain.

“The WPBSA also felt that some of Mark Williams’s comments about the referee following the match were unfair; however we are pleased to report that Mark has since issued a formal apology to referee Eirian Williams.”