Olivier Marteel
{{Short description|Belgian snooker referee}}
{{Infobox snooker player
| name = Olivier Marteel
| image = Olivier Marteel at Snooker German Masters (DerHexer) 2013-02-03 06-(cropped).jpg
| caption = Olivier Marteel in 2013
| birth_date = {{Birth date and age|1969|05|10|df=y}}
| birth_place = Nieuwpoort, Flanders, Belgium
| death_date =
| death_place =
| Sport country = {{BEL}}
| Professional = 2006–present
| High ranking =
| Official maximums =
| Best finish =
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| World champ =
}}
Olivier Marteel (born 10 May 1969){{Cite web |date=2020-01-11 |title=Olivier Marteel - World Snooker |url=https://wst.tv/corporate/referees/oliveir-marteel/ |access-date=2022-04-13 |website= |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200111141559/https://wst.tv/corporate/referees/oliveir-marteel/ |archive-date=11 January 2020 |url-status=dead}} 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.{{Cite web|title=Olivier Marteel|work=World Snooker Tour|url=https://www.wst.tv/referees/olivier-marteel}} 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.{{Cite web|title=Marteel To Take Charge Of World Final|url=https://www.wst.tv/news/2022/april/11/marteel-to-take-charge-of-world-final|work=World Snooker Tour|date=11 April 2022}} In addition to the World Championships, Marteel has officiated the Masters final three times, in 2016, 2018, and 2025, and the UK Championship final twice, in 2016 and 2020.{{Cite web |title=Triple Crown Final Referees - World Snooker |author= |work=World Snooker |date= |access-date=13 April 2022 |url= https://wst.tv/corporate/referees/triple-crown-final-referees/|archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20200111143925/https://wst.tv/corporate/referees/triple-crown-final-referees/|url-status= dead|archive-date= January 11, 2020}} He also plays snooker, and has achieved highest breaks of 133 in practice and 78 in competition.
Marteel is a qualified nurse and has been nursing since his twenty-first birthday.{{Cite news |date=19 April 2023 |title=WORLD SNOOKER CHAMPIONSHIP: MEET SNOOKER REFEREE AND NURSE OLIVIER MARTEEL WHO HALTED CRUCIBLE PROTESTER |url=https://www.eurosport.com/snooker/world-championship/2022-2023/world-snooker-championship-meet-snooker-referee-and-nurse-olivier-marteel-who-halted-crucible-protes_sto9566566/story.shtml |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230420085100/https://www.eurosport.com/snooker/world-championship/2022-2023/world-snooker-championship-meet-snooker-referee-and-nurse-olivier-marteel-who-halted-crucible-protes_sto9566566/story.shtml |archive-date=20 April 2023 |work=Eurosport}} He worked in the frontline as a nurse in Belgium during the COVID-19 pandemic, despite being trained as a radiologist.{{Cite web |author= |date= |title=How a referee is helping to fight coronavirus on frontline in Belgium |url=https://www.independent.co.uk/sport/snooker/snooker-referee-coronavirus-olivier-marteel-belgium-a9474041.html |access-date=13 April 2022 |work=The Independent}}{{Cite web |title=How snooker ref joined frontline fight against Covid |author= |work=BBC Sport |date= |access-date=13 April 2022 |url= https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/av/snooker/55209655 |quote=}}{{Cite web |title=Snooker referee Olivier Marteel is on hospital frontline in Belgium |author= |work=Sky Sports |date= |access-date=13 April 2022 |url= https://www.skysports.com/more-sports/snooker/news/12243/11976467/snooker-referee-olivier-marteel-is-on-hospital-frontline-in-belgium |quote=}}
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.{{Cite news |title=World Snooker Championship 2023: Play stopped by Just Stop Oil protesters at the Crucible |last=Sutcliffe |first=Steve |work=BBC Sport |url=https://www.bbc.com/sport/snooker/65305903 |date=17 April 2023 |archive-date=18 April 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230418054224/https://www.bbc.com/sport/snooker/65305903 |url-status=live }}{{Cite news |date=17 April 2023 |title=World snooker championship disrupted by Just Stop Oil protesters in Sheffield |work=The Guardian |last=Ingle |first=Sean |url=https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2023/apr/17/world-snooker-championship-disrupted-just-stop-oil-protestors-crucible-theatre-sheffield |access-date=17 April 2023 |issn=0261-3077 |archive-date=24 April 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230424105735/https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2023/apr/17/world-snooker-championship-disrupted-just-stop-oil-protestors-crucible-theatre-sheffield |url-status=live }}
References
{{reflist}}
External links
- [https://www.wst.tv/referees/olivier-marteel/ Marteel's profile at WST.tv]
{{DEFAULTSORT:Marteel, Olivier}}
Category:Belgian referees and umpires
Category:Snooker referees and officials
Category:Pool referees and officials