HUDDERSFIELD Open Snooker champion Robert Read will be aiming to put one over on former champion, turned tour professional, Kuldesh Johal, when the two men meet in an 11-frame Exhibition clash at Marsh Liberal Club on Wednesday.
Johal, who originally played out of Shelley Sports and Social Club, won the Huddersfield crown just once in 2000 when he beat Stuart Gothard in the final, but moved to play in Leeds and subsequently joined the professional ranks, where he now plays on the main tour.
Opponent Read is the most prolific snooker player in Huddersfield since Tommy Donlan in the 70s and 80s, having now won the Open title 10 times, and this week he qualified for yet another final after beating his Lindley WMC teammate Lucs Landa 4-1 at Lindley in the semis.
And that made up for some of the disappointment of losing out to reigning champion Jonathan Baggley in the semi-finals of the Yorkshire Championship at the Northern Snooker Centre in Leeds, where he went down 4-3.
Wednesday’s Exhibition, which promises to be quite an occasion with both men having a point to prove, is being sponsored by Trusted Finance.
Action in the best of 11 frame clash gets under way at 7.30pm.
Michaela Tabb will claim a victory for sexual equality in sport when she becomes the first woman to referee the World Championship final.
The 41-year-old will cap eight years as a snooker referee by taking charge of the biggest match the sport has to offer, and is quietly thrilled.
“I keep forgetting that I’ll be the first woman, because I don’t think that way anymore,” said Tabb.
“There are other women referees now.”
But Tabb admits: “I want to be in the Guinness Book of Records, yee-ha!
“There’s no reason why you can’t be a female referee.
“It’s just been a traditional game and women didn’t go into snooker clubs, and there are probably still some clubs out there that don’t allow women in.
“So women didn’t get involved in that environment.
“It’s about time, and there’ll be some more.”
