Olivier Marteel

Olivier Marteel
Olivier Marteel in 2013
Born (1969-05-10) 10 May 1969 (age 55)
Nieuwpoort, Flanders, Belgium
Sport country Belgium
Professional2006–present

Olivier Marteel (born 10 May 1969)[1] is a Belgian professional snooker referee who officiates on the World Snooker Tour.

Career

Born in Nieuwpoort, Marteel now lives in Gijverinkhove. He first qualified as a referee in 1994, and began refereeing on the main professional tour in 2006.[2] He took charge of his first World Snooker Championship final in 2015, becoming the first Belgian to referee a world final, and the second referee from continental Europe to do so, after Jan Verhaas. Marteel refereed his second world final in 2022.[3] In addition to the World Championships, Marteel has officiated the Masters final twice, in 2016 and 2018, and the UK Championship final twice, in 2016 and 2020.[4] He also plays snooker, and has achieved highest breaks of 133 in practice and 78 in competition.[2]

Marteel is a qualified nurse and has been nursing since his twenty-first birthday.[5] He worked in the frontline as a nurse in Belgium during the COVID-19 pandemic, despite being trained as a radiologist.[6][7][8]

In the 2023 World Snooker Championship, he prevented a Just Stop Oil protester from gluing herself to the table; this occurred moments after another protester had covered the opposite table in orange powder. The match overseen by Marteel resumed shortly after the interruption, while the other match was delayed to the next day.[9][10]

References

  1. ^ "Olivier Marteel - World Snooker". 2020-01-11. Archived from the original on 11 January 2020. Retrieved 2022-04-13.
  2. ^ a b "Olivier Marteel". World Snooker Tour.
  3. ^ "Marteel To Take Charge Of World Final". World Snooker Tour. 11 April 2022.
  4. ^ "Triple Crown Final Referees - World Snooker". World Snooker. Archived from the original on January 11, 2020. Retrieved 13 April 2022.
  5. ^ "WORLD SNOOKER CHAMPIONSHIP: MEET SNOOKER REFEREE AND NURSE OLIVIER MARTEEL WHO HALTED CRUCIBLE PROTESTER". Eurosport. 19 April 2023. Archived from the original on 20 April 2023.
  6. ^ "How a referee is helping to fight coronavirus on frontline in Belgium". The Independent. Retrieved 13 April 2022.
  7. ^ "How snooker ref joined frontline fight against Covid". BBC Sport. Retrieved 13 April 2022.
  8. ^ "Snooker referee Olivier Marteel is on hospital frontline in Belgium". Sky Sports. Retrieved 13 April 2022.
  9. ^ Sutcliffe, Steve (17 April 2023). "World Snooker Championship 2023: Play stopped by Just Stop Oil protesters at the Crucible". BBC Sport. Archived from the original on 18 April 2023.
  10. ^ Ingle, Sean (17 April 2023). "World snooker championship disrupted by Just Stop Oil protesters in Sheffield". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Archived from the original on 24 April 2023. Retrieved 17 April 2023.