phil64btz wrote:I probably did not read the rules carefully, but I could not find the answer to the following question : "Should we spot again a coloured ball on the table when it has been pocketed with a foul during the final sequence ?".
Here is the case :
All the reds have been potted and we are in the "final sequence" where we must pot the coloured balls in the ascending order of their values. Let's say the striker has to pot the blue ball. He does so correctly, but after the blue ball has been potted the cue ball also goes into a pocket, which means a foul with a 5 points penalty.
1. Should we leave the blue ball in its pocket or should we spot it back to the table ?
2. What is the reference rule we should apply ?
Thanks for your help.
Hi Phil. Yes, BadSnookerPlayer is exactly correct of course in answering question 1. As for question 2., it is a little tricky to decipher the Rules as written for this information. It is a matter of being hidden in plain sight. Whenever you are trying to interpret the Rules, You need to understand, the Rules are written similar to a legal document; the terminology is very specific. To interpret, you must understand the precise definitions of words. It sounds like you took some time trying to find your answer in the Rules before posting here so I will give you a short (eh, not-so-short, really) primer in how to best search and interpret the Rules of Snooker so you are prepared for the next incident.
So first, let's break down your question:
"Should we spot again a coloured ball on the table when it has been
pocketed with a foul during the final sequence ?"--this is exactly the correct phrasing for the question you are asking.
Now:
"Let's say the striker has to pot the blue ball. He does so correctly, but after the blue ball has been
potted the cue ball also goes into a pocket, which means a foul with a 5 points penalty."--this is misleading and incorrect phrasing and this is the reason that you could not find your answer in the Rules. The bolded words above are the root of your problem as you will see.
The Rules of Snooker begin with Section 1, Equipment. It defines mechanical tolerancing of the table and ancillary equipment. As a player, you have very little control over this; this area is the responsibility of the venue operator, so you won't usually need to sift through the info in Section 1. during the normal course of a frame.
Section 2. is Definitions. This is where the Rules are like a legal document. This is the "language" of Snooker, giving precise meanings to the words that will be used throughout the rest of the document. These may be identical to existing English words (such as "Foul"), or they may be brand new words that were invented solely for the purpose of Snooker (such as "Snooker"), or they may be existing English words that are given a different, non-intuitive meaning for the purpose of Snooker (such as "Break"). These words
should be easily understood by every enthusiast of our sport/hobby/endeavour, but oftentimes, there is confusion here. You should at some time read this section thoroughly and become comfortable with these definitions. I will give you a special little Easter egg here, one that probably only the tiniest percentage of human beings who have ever swung a snooker cue will know: As you read the remainder of the Rules of Snooker (Sections 3., 4., and 5.), you will regularly encounter words that stand out because they are
printed in italics. There is a particular reason for this...you probably now already know that when you encounter any word in
italics like this, it is written that way so that you know that you can always go back to Section 2. to verify the exact definition of that
italicized word. Section 2. is not arranged in alphabetical order so searching is a little haphazard, but the section is not very long.
Section 3. is the meat and potatoes, how to play the game, entitled The Game. Your answer is here but it is a little tricky to find unless you are already familiar. I will get to your answer shortly. Section 3., much like my post, is rather lengthy. The only way to familiarize yourself with this section is to bludgeon your way through it. Then do it again. And again. And...you get the picture. It takes some time before knowing where to go in this section to find your answer becomes a simple matter. Just takes practice.
Section 4. is entitled The Players and, ironically, as a player, you don't need to concern yourself with it too much. Like "Equipment" is written primarily for venue operators, so "The Players" is primarily written for tournament Referees. As a player, to you, Section 4. just says, "Don't be a bell-end! Play nice!" and you shouldn't have any trouble here.
Similarly, Section 5. is entitled The Officials and it is written for the tournament Referees as their own guidelines. Again, you don't really need to concern yourself with this too often.
So the upshot is simple.....a) Before playing the game, get yourself reasonably familiar with Section 2., Definitions. b) If you have an incident during the course of play, you will need to skim through Section 3. to find the reference you need and be prepared to go back to Definitions if you see words in
italics.
Now, for your situation, the governing Rule is Section 3., Rule 3. Mode of Play, sub-clause (g)(iii) which states:
"The colours then become on in the ascending order of their value as per Section 3 Rule 1(a) and when next potted remain off the table, except as provided for in Section 3 Rule 4, and the striker plays the next stroke at the next colour on;"So you will notice some italics there. And the important (often confusing) one is
potted so perhaps we should go to Section 2. and look that one up. And there, we find:
"7. Pot
A pot is when an
object ball, after contact with another ball
and without any infringement of these Rules, enters a pocket. Causing a ball to be
potted is known as
potting."
I added the
bolding in there for emphasis. People often use "pot", "potting", and "potted" incorrectly. YOUR Blue was NOT potted, it was pocketed because during the course of the stroke, there was a foul, an infringement of the Rules. And so the Mode of Play Rule for the end of frame becomes very simple to understand......during the final colour sequence, each of the colours must be
potted at which time they will remain off table. If they were not
potted in sequence per this strict definition, then they will be re-spotted as required.
Probably more than you ever cared to know on the matter but perhaps following the line of reasoning may help next time you face some similar situation.