Top snooker referee Alex Crisan bids farewell to the professional circuit in touching social media tribute

Crisan officiated at the recent Snooker Shoot Out held at the Blackpool Tower Circus which was won by late replacement Alfie Burden who defeated Stuart Bingham in the final to claim his maiden ranking event title.

During the tournament, Crisan posted on social media that this would be his last top flight event with the white gloves, thanking his colleagues and the World Snooker Tour.

From Bucharest, Crisan started refereeing in 2006. Having completed his green baize qualifications, he began officiating on snooker's professional circuit near the start of the next decade when the sport enjoyed the introduction of a plethora of new events, including those on the European Players Tour Championship series.

Following his debut at the 2011 Paul Hunter Classic in Furth, Germany, Crisan became a familiar face on the tour and in front of the cameras. In 2015, he was one of three referees selected to officiate at the Masters in front of a huge audience at the atmospheric Alexandra Palace in London. He has also overseen UK Championship action at the Barbican Centre in York, another one of snooker's 'Triple Crown' events.

On home soil in 2018, he was the man-in-the-middle for the Romanian Masters final between Ryan Day and Stuart Bingham. In 2019, Crisan achieved another ambition when refereeing at the hallowed Crucible Theatre for the World Seniors Snooker Championship.

Away from the pro tour, he also officiated at the 2013 World Games in Cali, Columbia.

Speaking to Totally Snookered, Crisan explained that whilst he has called time on his professional career, he will carry on refereeing at competitions in Romania, and promoting the sport.

“I discovered snooker in 2003 and has been part of half of my life ever since” said Crisan. “I love the game way too much, so yes, will carry on with snooker, but with projects that give me more joy and satisfaction and with people that appreciate the hard work and the efforts.”

Crisan intends to continue his commentary duties with Eurosport - a role he has had since 2018 - and will keep spreading the word of snooker across his homeland in a bid to attract new players and fans. He also revealed his recent help in obtaining nine smaller-sized snooker tables from the WPBSA for the Romanian Federation RST to take into schools and develop talents.

In terms of his most memorable career moments, Crisan - whose day job is as a sales agent working with construction materials - pointed to taking charge of the Masters semi-final between Shaun Murphy and Mark Allen in 2015, and the aforementioned Romanian Masters showpiece in his hometown.

He also expressed gratitude to World Seniors Snooker Tour Chairman Jason Francis for inviting him to the Crucible where he refereed alongside Michaela Tabb and Leo Scullion at the seniors' flagship event in 2019.

The Snooker Shoot Out held in December 2023 is another special highlight for Crisan; not only did he referee the final between Allen and Cao Yupeng, but earlier in the event he was part of snooker history as he oversaw Murphy produce the only maximum 147 break ever made in professional competition under a shot-clock format.

Crisan said he will look back on his 14-year professional career with fondness and pride, although with a tinge of disappointment having not officiated the final stages of more tournaments.

The decision to retire was made during last week’s Shoot Out after discovering that former student Natalia Gradinari had been selected to referee the final.

A fitting time to bow out, Crisan explained: "I've always loved the Shoot Out. I refereed it for the sixth time and when I saw in the first day that Natalia Gradinari - a referee that learned from me in 2018 at a seminar in Chisinau and who was guided by me all these years - will have this year's final and her first one in her career, I said to myself 'This is it, I've made it. I've managed to take someone from zero to hero on the main tour', mission accomplished.

"I'm really proud that I had nine Romanians formed by me and refereeing for World Snooker in the previous years with Natalia being my biggest success as an Examiner Referee.”