Drama unfolded on the second day of the European Open Championship in Bosnia and Herzegovina as Quinten Pongers had a controversial foul called on him by a referee.
The incident occurred in the opening rack of the Dutch youngster’s qualifying match against Flavian Glont, with head referee Marcel Eckert being called into the arena to explain the ruling.
Pongers hit straight through a cue ball that was deemed frozen to the green six ball by the referee near the centre of the table, attempting to sink the nine ball in the bottom right-hand corner pocket.
A foul was immediately called by the match referee due to what appeared to be a relatively obvious push shot, although the WPA rules, which are used in World Nineball Tour events, do create confusion.
Rule 6.7 in the WPA rulebook reads: ‘If the cue ball is touching an object ball at the start of the shot, it is legal to shoot towards or partly into that ball, and if the object ball is moved by such a shot, it is considered to have been contacted by the cue ball.
‘The cue ball is assumed not to be touching any ball unless it is declared touching by the referee. It is the shooter’s responsibility to get the declaration before the shot. Playing away from a frozen ball does not constitute having hit that ball unless specified in the rules of the game.’
Rule 6.8 regarding push shots states that ‘it is a foul to prolong tip-to-cue-ball contact beyond that seen in normal shots’, which would suggest that Pongers had committed a foul.
Nevertheless, some have since argued that it would be impossible for Pongers to have prolonged ‘tip-to-cue-ball contact’ due to the stroke speed and the pace in which he struck the cue ball.
Pongers himself was left flummoxed by his shot being called a foul, and the Dutchman would miss out on the single elimination phase after an eventual 9-7 defeat to his Romanian opponent.
