Who are the leading women snooker referees on the professional snooker tour?

A women's international 8-ball pool player for Scotland, Tabb initially wore the white gloves at major 9-ball pool competitions such as the World Championship and Mosconi Cup. A few years later, Tabb made the transition to the bigger table, and was the first woman to referee one of snooker's Triple Crown finals at the 2008 Masters.

The following year in 2009, Tabb took charge of snooker's biggest fixture when she refereed John Higgins v Shaun Murphy in the World Championship final at the Crucible Theatre in Sheffield. At the time of writing, Tabb - who also officiated the 2012 world final - is the only woman to have refereed a world professional snooker championship final.

As well as the success of Tabb - who left the pro tour several years ago - a huge influx of new professional events on the snooker circuit following the takeover of Barry Hearn helped pave the way for more women to officiate on the sport's top level and biggest stages.

We list some of the most prominent women snooker referees on the World Snooker Tour in recent times (in no particular order) below:

Maike Kesseler

Germany's Maike Kesseler first featured on snooker's top tier when she refereed at the 2010 Paul Hunter Classic on home soil, and she has been a regular on the circuit ever since.

Kesseler - who has worn the white gloves for two maximum 147 breaks on the pro scene - has risen up the ranks and officiated several tournament finals across multiple countries such as China, Northern Ireland, Austria and Germany.

In 2017, Kesseler made her debut at the Crucible Theatre.

Malgorzata Kanieska

Malgorzata Kanieska made her breakthrough refereeing on snooker's premier circuit at a European Players Tour Championship event in Prague in 2010. The next year, she made her television debut with the white gloves during a tournament in Warsaw, the capital city of her home country Poland.

Kanieska has continued her career rise in subsequent years. In 2023, she was nominated to referee the Tour Championship final - the most elite of all three Players Series events - in Hull between Shaun Murphy and Kyren Wilson.

So far, Kanieska has refereed four professional maximum 147 breaks, and she played a big role at the Barbican Centre in York for the televised stages of the 2024 UK Championship where she led the thrilling semi-final between Mark Allen and Barry Hawkins.

Tatiana Woollaston

Described by Ronnie O'Sullivan in 2024 as the best referee in the world, Belarussian-born but now UK resident Tatiana Woollaston (pictured above) has officiated on the professional circuit since 2010.

Woollaston has overseen multiple ranking event finals, and first refereed at the Crucible Theatre in 2020 for the World Championship. She is married to professional player Ben, a former Welsh Open finalist. Tatiana does not referee any matches that her husband is involved in.

In 2024, Woollaston was one of the referees who officiated at the World Masters of Snooker invitational in Riyadh - the first professional snooker event ever to be held in Saudi Arabia.

The biggest moment of Woollaston’s career, so far, came when she refereed her first Triple Crown final at the 2024 UK Championship in York.

Away from the baize, Woollaston works for Next.

Monika Sułkowska

Polish-born Monika Sułkowska was covering a professional snooker event in Warsaw as a sports journalist when she became really intrigued by the sport and the refereeing aspect of it. Just two years later, she passed her refereeing exam.

In 2014, on home soil at the Gydnia Open, Sułkowska refereed at a professional snooker event for the first time. During the same tournament, she officiated the match that Shaun Murphy compiled a maximum 147 break in.

Sułkowska's maiden TV appearance with the white gloves on came later in 2014 at the Lisbon Open. In 2020, she led a ranking event final for the first time when Judd Trump and Kyren Wilson met in the Gibraltar Open title match.

Desislava Bozhilova

It has been an incredible rise up the ranks for Desislava Bozhilova (pictured above), from passing her international referring exams in 2012 to becoming only the second woman ever to officiate one of professional snooker's Triple Crown event finals.

From Sliven in Bulgaria, Bozhilova played cuesports and became interested in snooker refereeing after watching on television. She made her debut as a referee on the World Snooker Tour on home soil at the 2012 Bulgarian Open, and just four years later she took charge of her first ranking event final at the 2016 Riga Masters in Latvia.

Bozhilova - who has a Masters degree in Landscape Architecture - has officiated a plethora of big finals on the professional circuit, including the memorable 2019 Champion of Champions title decider between Judd Trump and Neil Robertson.

In 2019, Bozhilova was selected to referee at the Crucible Theatre for the main venue rounds of the World Championship for the first time. She has returned to snooker’s grandest stage several times since.

2022 was a huge year for Bozhilova as she refereed both the Masters and UK Championship finals - two of the three biggest events in snooker - following in the footsteps of Michaela Tabb who was the first woman to officiate at a Triple Crown final.

At the time of writing, Bozhilova has overseen six maximum 147 breaks; two of these came at the 2024 Masters at the Alexandra Palace. She also occasionally referees 9-ball pool on the World Nineball Tour.

Peggy Li

These days, China's Peggy Li regularly officiates many of the sport's biggest matches in her home country which hosts several prestigious tournaments each season.

Having played snooker herself whilst she was a student in Australia, Li became interested in refereeing the sport and subsequently rose up the ranks.

Li refereed the 2016 International Championship final on home soil in China - her first ranking event final appearance. In 2018, she made her Crucible Theatre debut at the World Championship.

Twice Li has been in charge of a maximum 147 break. Her first came at the 2018 China Open when Ronnie O’Sullivan made it.

Luise Kraatz

Germany's Luise Kraatz made her bow as an official on the professional snooker circuit in 2014 on home soil at the Paul Hunter Classic. Whilst refereeing her third match of the event, Aditya Mehta completed a 147 break.

To date, Kraatz has refereed four maximum 147 breaks. Her most recent came at the 2024 Saudi Arabia Snooker Masters - the first ranking event ever to be held in the country.

Kraatz - who has a Masters degree in International Business Studies - oversaw her maiden ranking event final at the 2018 Paul Hunter Classic in Fürth.

Hilde Moens

From Belgium, Hilde Moens is one of the most experienced female snooker referees having first officiated on the professional scene in 2010.

Moens still remains very active now; some of her highlights from 2024 include the World Championship qualifiers and the main venue stages of the inaugural Saudi Arabia Snooker Masters in Riyadh.

Proletina Velichkova

Bulgaria’s Proletina Velichkova (pictured above) got involved with officiating when her national snooker referees association was on the lookout for new people to take part.

As was the case for many up-and-coming officials, the European Tour provided Velichkova with her breakthrough on to the professional circuit. She first refereed on snooker’s premier circuit on home soil at the 2012 Bulgarian Open, and the following year in the same event she took charge of her first televised match, a contest that involved Judd Trump.

Since then, Velichkova has remained a familiar figure on the professional snooker tour and officiated several matches in front of the television cameras on the Home Nations Series in recent times.

In 2022, Velchkova - who has a degree in Scandinavian studies, and graphic and motion design - oversaw Mark Selby’s maximum 147 break at the British Open.