_2013-01-30_02.jpg) Tabb refereeing in Berlin for the 2013 German Masters | |
| Born | 11 December 1967 Bath, Somerset, England |
|---|---|
| Sport country |  Scotland |
| Professional | 2001–2015 |
Michaela Tabb (born 11 December 1967) is a Scottish snooker and pool referee. She established significant milestones for female officials in professional cue sports, beginning in pool, where she officiated at top tournaments such as the WPA World Nine-ball Championship and the Mosconi Cup. She qualified in 2001 to referee on the World Snooker Tour and was the sport's highest profile female referee for the next 14 years. She became the first woman to officiate at a professional ranking snooker tournament at the 2002 Welsh Open, and the first woman to referee a ranking tournament final at the 2007 Welsh Open. She is the only woman to have refereed the World Snooker Championship final, which she did twice, in 2009 and 2012.
Tabb left the professional snooker tour in March 2015 following a dispute with the sport's commercial arm, World Snooker Ltd, against which she brought a case alleging sex discrimination, unfair dismissal, and breach of contract. The parties reached an out-of-court settlement in September 2015, under which World Snooker Ltd paid Tabb an undisclosed financial sum. She has continued to referee at pool events and on the World Seniors Tour.
Tabb is also a former pool player. In the 1990s and early 2000s, she competed on the women's eight-ball pool circuit, where she won a number of titles as a solo competitor and as a member, and later captain, of the Scottish Ladies' Pool Team.