MILKINS APOLOGISES TO SURETY

Rob Milkins admitted he had apologised for a bad attitude in the arena to Zak Surety during a 5-4 victory achieved from 4-1 down in the last 32 at the China Open in Beijing.

Milkins is not a total stranger to accusations of poor behaviour and frustrations getting the better of him during a match by opponents.

At least he was honest enough to admit it on this occasion, and make the apology to a devastated Surety. And Milkins’ unease was almost certainly as he later claimed exacerbated by the uncertainty over his World Championship participation – not that that is an excuse.

Milkins arrived in China as one of those likely to be facing three qualifiers – but still with a glimmer of hope of gatecrashing the party with an automatic spot.

He said: “My attitude in the match was terrible, my head was not very good and I did apologise to Zak at the interval because my attitude just wasn’t good.

“I managed to do something about it after the interval, even at 4-1 down it was better. But I have got that in me to have my head not right and be the worst player in the world, it was the same in Thailand for the Players Championship.

“I had to really calm myself down. I don’t know why, maybe it is just having that one eye on the World Championship even though this is a big tournament. Everyone wants to be at the Crucible and some of us are not guaranteed.”

'RUNNING MAN' FERGAL CLAIMS SOME VICTIMS

In more Irish news snooker’s ‘Running Man’ Fergal O’Brien claimed a couple of victims in Beijing.

The 43-year-old Dubliner, whose finest hour in the game came 16 years ago now when he won the British Open, is often seen pounding the streets around the hotel on overseas trips to keep fit and fill time between matches and practice.

And in Beijing, Matt Selt and Jimmy Robertson asked to join up with the world No26 for a run around the Sheraton hotel complex.

The pair kept up with O’Brien for a while with the pace at a leisurely jog, but when the time came for a sprint, Selt and Robertson were left gasping while O’Brien put his foot to the floor and sped off into the distance.

WHITE SPORTSMANSHIP LEAVES MARK ON MORRIS

You don’t have to go far in snooker without running into someone with a tale to tell about the exemplary sportsmanship so often shown by Jimmy White in his career.

And in Beijing Ireland’s David Morris admitted one such instance had made a huge impression on him at the China Open the previous year, and had remained a benchmark for his own future conduct.

Morris said: “I played Jimmy here last year, and I knew going in he was desperate for the money to stay on the tour. You knew that meant a lot for him, his status is something he is very proud of.

“He went 2-0 up and I managed to get the next with a good break, I think there was a difficult brown I got to help clinch the frame. And from his chair he just said to me straight away ‘Great break Davy’.

“With everything on it for him – and he went on to win anyway – he could still find time to do that, and he is always tapping the table in appreciation of other players’ shots.

“It is something I have remembered ever since, and the standard we should all try to match.”

CAMPBELL IN TIE TRIBUTE

Marcus Campbell went out to home hero and defending champion Ding Junhui in Beijing – but there was time enough for the Scot to pay a moving tribute to friend Billy Peterkin, tragically hit and killed by a car on his stag do last year.

Peterkin was known to many in the snooker fraternity north of the border, and Dumbarton’s Campbell was asked by another friend present in Marbella at the time to wear one of the Union Jack ties distributed on the trip at the China Open, with the first anniversary of his death fast approaching.

“It is coming up to the first anniversary of the death of a friend known to a few players, Billy Peterkin, who was tragically killed on his stag do last year,” said Campbell.

“I wasn’t actually on the stag do but he had handed out bow ties to everyone there, and at a recent charity event one of those present when it happened asked me to wear it as a mark of respect which I was very happy to do.”

MEDIA MAKE WAY FOR BASKETBALL SPONSOR

THE media moved ‘offices’ this year at the Beijing University Students Gymnasium, venue once again for the China Open. The former room, were post-match press conferences are also conducted, has recently been let out to sportswear and footwear brand Li-Ning, sponsors of the high-profile China Basketball Association league.

The assorted hacks and TV crews were shunted next-door into a slightly less salubrious and more cramped ante-room. But at least they could buy a cheap basketball top if they wanted one.

BIRDS NEST OLYMPIC STADIUM HOSTS OPENING BASH

The opening ceremony on the Sunday before play got under way at the China Open took place in the grand surroundings of the Birds Nest, the iconic stadium for the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games.

Players all climbed aboard a coach for the short trip from the hotel, and many grabbed the chance for some pictures of the arena and track where Usain Bolt shot to prominence with an astonishing three gold medals and three world records seven years ago in the 100m, 200m and 4x100m relay with Jamaica.

Shaun Murphy and Jason Ferguson did their bit with some trackside interviews with Rob Walker, bigging up snooker’s bid to try and join the Olympics party at some point in the future (Murphy's Bolt impression could yet go viral), and the red carpet procession saw the 64 players (less one or two absentees) led through a hall containing a galaxy of silver statues on the arm of a Beijing belle before the formal speeches.

And defending champion Ding Junhui, pictured with leading Chinese woman player Shi Chun Xia in the parade, created the fashion waves in a natty three-piece check green suit.

Walker, a well-known figure on the snooker circuit with his presenting and MC work, also has many media commitments in his other passion of athletics, and took the opportunity to drop in at the Beijing event n for a couple of days on his way home from Guiyang and the World Cross Country Championships.

Photograph courtesy of top147

ZHAO PILES ON THE PAIN FOR DAVIES

Chinese wild-card menace Zhao Xintong was at it again in Beijing, chalking up an eighth win in the four ranking events in China to date this season with a 5-0 whitewash of Alex Davies.

Zhao is still just 17, turning 18 this week on Friday, but he has won his wild-card match in Beijing, Chengdu, Shanghai and Wuxi this term – following up on the previous three occasions with further victories.

The teenager also revealed a ruthless streak in his post-match press conference, admitting that he had heard Davies was suffering with an upset stomach and planned to make him feel even more uncomfortable from the first frame.

With this latest victory Zhao set up a first-round proper encounter with the in-form Mark Williams – who is no fan of the wild-card system and would happily see them all scrapped.

MC HAMMERED FOR OFF NIGHT

The MC in Mumbai Derek Sippy had by his own admission a terrible time of it calling in the players and officials for the second set of quarter-finals on Friday evening with a scheduled start time of around 9pm. A lengthy and emotional speech from honoured VIP guest and Indian national acting treasure Anil Kapoor, more of which elsewhere, had already delayed things before Sippy took the mike.

With the usual booming delivery he first of all introduced the referee on Table Two as Germany’s Marcel Eckardt. There was a long pause before Malta’s Terry Camilleri slowly walked out into the arena staring intently at Sippy, who reacted eventually: “I got that wrong – it’s Terry Camilleri!”

With Camilleri and Eckardt finally announced for their right tables the players were next. “On Table Two…The Gentleman, Joe Perry!” roared Sippy. The only slight problem being Perry was playing on Table One against Ricky Walden, with Thepchaiya Un-Nooh and Mark Davis due to be called out on Table Two. “It’s all going wrong tonight,” lamented Sippy, and no one – including Kapoor and tournament director Mike Ganley standing, or more accurately hopping alongside – was about to disagree.

Earlier in the week the referees had enjoyed a joke at Sippy’s expense by telling that Olivier Marteel’s nickname was ‘The Belgian Truffle’ which he duly relayed to the audience, and the hapless MC , who seemed to be heavily reliant on Wikipedia for some of his background work, also introduced Jan Verhaas as ‘Belgian’ and player Yu Delu as ‘Noodles’.

POSTER BOYS BITE THE DUST...AGAIN

The curse of the local promotional poster is a fairly well established phenomenon in snooker, even allowing for the fact that it is not easy to pick the winner of any tournament these days with a large clutch of possible victors. The Indian Open duly saw the four likely lads all eliminated before the quarter-finals even in a weakened field – Ding Junhui and Judd Trump, and less surprisingly home hopes Aditya Mehta and Pankaj Advani.