A history-making snooker referee is giving away a vital part of her attire in the name of charity. Bulgarian official Desislava Bozhilova took charge of the recent World Championship final between Zhao Xintong and Mark Williams, which the former won 18-12 to become China’s first-ever Crucible king.

The 32-year-old, a leading referee on the World Snooker Tour, became just the second woman to oversee a World Championship final after Michaela Tabb, who took charge of the contest in 2009 and 2012, and the first female to referee all three Triple Crown finals, which also includes the UK Championship and the Masters. She could be forgiven for hanging on to every memento from the occasion, but generous Bozhilova is auctioning off her white gloves from the final to charity. She posted on social media: “Do you want my gloves from the final? There is an auction on Wednesday (May 21) at 6pm UK time for 24 hours on my Instagram page! All the money goes to charity!”

It is unclear which charity will benefit, but she has confirmed the starting bid will be €150 (£126). The auction will be hosted on her Instagram page, where bids can be placed in the comments section.

Bozhilova received a special trophy from her home federation to mark the occasion of refereeing the final. Sharing a picture of the impressive trophy, she posted on Instagram: "Thank you all so much for the kind words regarding refereeing the World Final. I loved every second of it, the atmosphere was amazing and it was a pleasure to be involved in a game like that.