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Free Ball and AFAM _ that lethal combination again!

Postby elnino

Player A has been awarded a free ball after his opponent had played an illegal stroke.

The ball on is Red.

Player A nominates Brown ball, miscues and misses the it altogether but the cue-ball strikes a red ball on its journey round the table.

Player B declares a foul and a miss.

Is Player B correct?

Re: Free Ball and AFAM _ that lethal combination again!

Postby acesinc

elnino wrote:Player A has been awarded a free ball after his opponent had played an illegal stroke.

The ball on is Red.

Player A nominates Brown ball, miscues and misses the it altogether but the cue-ball strikes a red ball on its journey round the table.

Player B declares a foul and a miss.

Is Player B correct?


Yes, Player B is correct, presuming the current game situation allows for a miss to be called. If a free ball is nominated, then it MUST be the first ball contacted by the cue ball. Contact first with any other ball including the natural ball on is a foul. It is a fair stroke if the referee considers that the free ball and the natural ball on had been struck simultaneously but if the natural ball on is struck first by even the tiniest fraction as judged by the referee, then it is a foul.

However, the scientific players among us should note that the Laws of Physics trump the Rules of Snooker so that an actual, bona fide simultaneous hit is in reality a near impossibility; the referee is almost certain to decide that one ball or the other was the first to be struck. So as a general rule of thumb, it would be unwise to play the free ball if you are relying on a simultaneous hit with the natural ball on for the stroke.