WASLEY'S MIND GAMES

Michael Wasley demonstrated his skills on the green baize by qualifying for the final stages of the Dafabet World Championship on Wednesday night – but his talents don’t end there.

The 24 year-old from Gloucester can solve the Rubik cube in under two minutes and has also taught himself to juggle.

Wasley said: “I haven’t done it for a year and a half so I’m probably a bit out of shape. I could do it in two minutes but you forget the moves so quick.

“I like to set myself challenges in between snooker just to keep my brain busy. I learned to juggle. I’m trying to juggle with four balls rather than three now. Just gimmicky things to show your mates. It keeps the brain busy and takes your mind off snooker.”

ROCKET WARMS UP AGAINST LATVIAN HOT ROD

RONNIE O’Sullivan has used Sheffield as a pre-tournament training camp successfully twice in the past 12 months – for last year’s World Championship win, and also January’s Masters triumph.

And the Rocket was up in the Steel City again almost a week before he walks out as defending champion on Saturday at the Crucible.

The routine is relaxed and straightforward – practising at the Star Academy, running, and generally staying away from the prying eyes of the media and the greater spotlight at home.

There are a host of potential sparring partners passing through the academy at the Sheffield United Football Club training ground.

Last year O’Sullivan played against old foe Peter Ebdon, whose pre-tournament predictions that his rival would storm through the field proved completely accurate.

This time O’Sullivan started out his preparation with a different approach, taking on 16-year-old Latvian national champion and Academy resident Rodion Judin.

The teenager is one of the great hopes in the Baltic states, one of snooker’s new frontiers.

Ding Junhui, the man of the season with five ranking titles, was also around – but as a potential semi-final opponent it looked likely the pair would avoid practising with each other, and O’Sullivan arranged further preparation against Shanghai Masters finalist Xiao Guodong.

FORD FORCED INTO REVERSE

TOM FORD was delighted after an excellent 10-8 win over former World Championship finalist Matthew Stevens at Ponds Forge to take him back to the Crucible.

He was slightly less pleased while somewhere past Junction 29 on the M1 heading back to Leicester to receive a call asking him to turn around and go back to Sheffield for some TV work.

The BBC were filming all 32 players solemnly walking towards the camera and folding their arms in the style often used by football, rugby and rugby league for use during the 17-day event.

But with many matches finishing at the same time and various media commitments Ford left the building as the only man not ticked off, with the top 16 having done the filming at the Masters.

With so little time to complete the set before the Saturday kick-off there was no option but to ask Ford to come back.

But there is nothing like a win taking you to snooker’s Mecca to engender some general bonhomie and Ford obliged the request, deciding he would rather do it late on Tuesday and enjoy his day off Wednesday before the first-round draw.

RADIO STATIONS SHUN CRUCIBLE DRAW

The snooker world may be braced for the draw for the first round of the Dafabet World Championships, to be staged at the Rileys Sports Bar on London’s Haymarket on Thursday 17th April, but there is a baffling indifference among the broadcast media towards the always gripping occasion.

Radio station talkSPORT had been due to broadcast the draw live on the morning Colin Murray show, but the presenter and his production team seemed to go cool on the idea and they withdrew relatively late in the day.

But that talkSPORT were even in the frame is bewildering, given the BBC’s contract to show the 17-day tournament from the Crucible Theatre in Sheffield. With at least two sports-oriented radio stations, you would have thought that the organisation would have wanted to publicise their own event, especially on that is watched by so many millions on television.

Instead the process will be shown on World Snooker’s Youtube channel.

This year’s draw was always going to be intriguing, with former world champions Mark Williams, Ken Doherty, Peter Ebdon and Graeme Dott having to win just one match to be in the bag. With absolutely no real inside knowledge on this one, we have a feeling in the water that Dott may just be handed Ronnie O’Sullivan in the opening round if he makes it through.

CRUCIBLE SEEDINGS PICTURE LOOKING CLEARER

The Crucible seedings picture was always going to gradually clear over the course of the week in Preston, with the positions of the top players in the Sheffield draw decided in most cases by events at the Guild Hall. Everyone was interested, including Ronnie O’Sullivan who will take his place at the top of the draw as No1 seed as defending champion. It soon became clear that Ding would be the No4 seed after his early exit at the PTC Grand Finals, in the same half as the Rocket, while Neil Robertson and Mark Selby would be seeded Nos 2 and 3 in the bottom half. Next to be confirmed was Shaun Murphy and Marco Fu, eight and nine, and seeded to meet in the last 16 in O’Sullivan’s quarter. And Friday afternoon confirmed the seedings of Ricky Walden (12), Mark Davis (13), Ali Carter (14), Mark Allen (15) and Joe Perry (16). This left scheduled matches at the last-16 stage between Allen and Robertson, Ding and Davis, Selby and Carter, and O’Sullivan and Perry. The evening matches in Preston were likely to further clarify matters.

MAGUIRE PULLS OUT OF CHINA OPEN

The withdrawal of Stephen Maguire from the China Open with a bad back, a problem that troubled him at the Welsh Open earlier this year, brought to three the number of players who will not be travelling to Beijing after the draw was made. Maguire had been due to play Dave Harold, who will receive a bye into the last 32 and a guaranteed minimum of £6,500 from the prize-money pot. The same applies to Martin O’Donnell, who was due to play Stuart Bingham (family funeral), and Alfie Burden (Tony Drago, no reason given but has always had a strong fear of flying).

NUGGET ENJOYS NOSTALGIC RETURN TO PRESTON

Steve Davis dropped in to the Guildhall on Thursday, up in Preston to do an exhibition at the football stadium with local hero Ian McCulloch in tow. Noting that the venue where he won six UK titles “hadn’t changed one bit” since his 1980s heyday, the six-time world champion, who now needs to win at least one World Championship qualifier at Ponds Forge in April to salvage his tour place, enjoyed a quick technical discussion on cues and tips with John Higgins before getting some practice in ahead of his evening duties.

TRUMP DITCHES THE FERRARI

Whisper it quietly, but motoring fan Judd Trump has traded down from a Ferrari to a Porsche. The Juddernaut couldn’t wait to splash out on one of the iconic Italian supercars once he had enjoyed some success. His big breakthrough of course came in 2011 when he won the China Open and reached the Crucible final, followed by successes at the UK Championship and International Championship in Chengdu. And Trump has already been though two £100,000-plus Ferraris, a 430 Spider and a 458 Italia.

The 24-year-old, who has in the past faced accusations of being a little too flash, insisted in Preston that from now on he was going to invest in the less sexy bricks and mortar rather than something that could move him from A to B at speeds of approaching 200mph. He has bought a new house in Chigwell, close to the home of rival Ronnie O’Sullivan. But that has not stopped him treating himself to a none-too-shabby Porsche Cayenne jeep at around £90,000.

Trump said: “I bought myself a new car this week, it is a Porsche Cayenne GTS, that’s a 4x4 jeep, pretty much the best one.

“I didn’t bring it to Preston though, I came up in the Mercedes - a nice relaxed drive, about five hours it took me.

“And the Ferrari has gone, maybe I am getting more sensible. I have started trying to invest in property, and have got a couple – it would be nice to make some money rather than paying rent. And I have moved house myself to Chigwell. Maybe I’m just trying to be like Ronnie!”

TREADMILL TAKING ITS TOLL

Maybe the demands of a long, hard season are catching up with a few of the players with both world No1 Neil Robertson and world No3 Ding Junhui, two of the undoubted men of the current campaign, suffering with illness during their first-round defeats in Preston. With the China Open following fast after this tournament, a few extra days recovery might not prove the worst thing in the world for either player – especially given the proximity of the World Championships just over three weeks away. It is there that both will want to peak, something they failed to do 12 months ago.

Robertson is just one of the top players who may be looking to follow Ronnie O’Sullivan’s example and attempt to be in peak condition for the major tournaments rather than play in just about everything in a mad scramble for points and money. Admittedly, a luxury that is far easier for a player to indulge with recent tournament successes and a few quid in the bank behind him. Michael Holt was another pleading “the worst case of man flu”, a state of distress not helped by the turmoil surrounding his beloved Nottingham Forest who sacked manager Billy Davies this week with their play-off chances starting to fade away.

WILL HENDRY FOLLOW DAVIS ONTO REALITY TV?

Is the great Stephen Hendry about to follow Steve Davis down the reality TV route? The Nugget was a big hit on ITV’s Australian jungle show ‘I’m A Celebrity, Get Me Out of Here’ last year, pocketing a reported £240,000. Hendry said at the time he might answer the phone for a cool half a million, but Inside Snooker reckon a lot less would be required to snag the Scot, who has clearly opened the door to the idea. It is rumoured that Hendry’s recent move onto Twitter was suggested by a publicity agent to increase his profile. Judging by his picture output on the microblogging site, Hendry is something of a gourmet. We are going 3-1 he crops up on Celebrity Masterchef some day soon.

Experienced veterans of the China tournaments know to leave a little extra space in the suitcase for whatever gift the promoters come up with at the usually extravagant welcome ceremony. These have included everything from porcelain to pandas in the past, and this year’s Haikou World Open proved no exception when boxes of finest rice wine were bestowed on the distinguished visiting players. One travel solution would be to finish it off before the return trip, a dilemma facing Joe Perry, John Higgins and Graeme Dott among others.

Photographs courtesy of World Snooker

When a final shows alarming signs of developing into a real drubbing in the afternoon session, contingency plans to placate potentially short-changed punters swiftly kick into gear. With Ronnie O’Sullivan leading Ding Junhui 7-1 going into the concluding set of frames tournament director Mike Ganley had Willie Thorne, Darren Morgan and Dominic Dale on standby at the Newport Centre to do a Big Break-style exhibition if the contest ran for four frames or fewer from 7pm, or not beyond the mid-session interval. As it turned out, their presence was required, which could be seen as an act of supreme benevolence from World  Snooker seeing as the delirious crowd had just witnessed history with O’Sullivan making a record 12th career maximum break to win the match.

Most people using the Newport Centre on the Sunday of the final were happy enough, with a showpiece featuring Ronnie O’Sullivan and Ding Junhui. But there was one casualty of quite possibly the last Welsh Open at the venue. The Newport and County Horticultural Society were unable to hold their regular weekend meeting due to the snooker, and had to move it to the following Wednesday. At least if the tournament moves to Cardiff that will no longer be a problem. And as commentator Phil Yates pointed out, there had at least been plenty of plants during the previous 12 days. Amazingly, this was not his worst joke of the day.

The Ronnie O’Sullivan ‘forgotten chalk’ narrow escape at the mid-session interval of his BetVictor Welsh Open semi-final against Barry Hawkins saw the world champion rush back to his cue case and back with around 15 seconds to spare before the players were ushered into the arena.

But with the Rocket himself raising the infamous Shaun Murphy/Stephen Maguire situation, now fully a decade go at the 2004 Grand Prix, in his post-match press conference it is probably worth clarifying both the rules and what actually happened in that incident.

There are effectively two ways a player can be docked a frame on this issue, by the tournament director for not being ready to play, or by the referee once the frame has started. Maguire was penalised for not being ready in the first place, so would have been docked a frame whether or not Murphy had spoken to referee Johan Oomen.

The fact that he did has caused him a lot of damage to his reputation, because other players were always going to see that as an unsportsmanlike attempt to ‘steal’ a frame. Murphy himself protested he only asked where Maguire was. The referee fed back to the tournament office that Murphy had brought up the question of the rules, so it became almost a case of who to believe.

Once the frame has started the referee is in charge and has discretion, and does not have to ask the opponent if they consent to a player going back to get their chalk. They can make that decision themselves, and either let the player go immediately, or make him wait until the end of the frame. Technically the referee has the power to dock a player a frame for this, but that is not the advice currently given and in practice would be very unlikely to happen.

Dominic Dale saw his wish to wear a daffodil on St David’s Day, the semi-finals Saturday of the BetVictor Welsh Open in Newport, scuppered by the fashion police in the TV studios. Having been handed one by the make-up team the powers-that-be decided the bright yellow of Wales’s national flower clashed with someone’s shirt, and all were removed from the presenting and punditry team.

Barry Hawkins’ progress at the BetVictor Welsh Open followed a fairly familiar and well-trodden path, with the Hawk happy to fly below the radar and leave most of the talking to everyone else. With a ranking title, a Crucible final and a career-high world ranking under his belt, the left-hander from Kent increasingly has very little to prove to anyone. But one of the reasons Hawkins remains popular with his peers was evident after his 5-0 win over Marco Fu in Friday night’s quarter-finals. Hawkins remained in the arena to watch stable-mate and friend Joe Perry trying to close out his win over world No2 Mark Selby, and even after being called for press duties could hardly keep his eyes off the screens during the tense final stages which were being shown in the media centre. A few minutes later there was a big joint On Q Promotions celebration, with boss Paul Mount leading the party.

Let’s hope Ronnie O’Sullivan did not offend anyone at the Emirates this week, where he has been known to enjoy the odd day out in one of their excellent hospitality areas. The Rocket compared his titanic quarter-final clash in Newport with John Higgins, two players with nine world titles, 41 other ranking titles and seven Masters crowns between them,  as like “Manchester City against Chelsea”, the two financial powerhouses of English Premier League football currently. At the time of his comments O’Sullivan’s own team, Arsenal, stood in second place, just a point adrift of Chelsea and ahead of City. Unlike O’Sullivan though, the Gunners could really do with a trophy or two in the cabinet.

Joel Walker took the opportunity to share a cautionary travel tale with fellow teenager Scott Donaldson at the BetVictor Welsh Open. The two youngsters did themselves proud in Newport, with Donaldson matching his best ever run at a full ranking event and Walker, also 19, stunning defending champion Stephen Maguire to reach at least the quarter-finals, further than he had ever been before in a fledgling two-year professional career. But the Sheffield youngster had a warning for Donaldson, heading for Haikou in just a few days. At the Wuxi Classic this season Walker, not used to the jetlag such trips to China can bring on, fell into a deep sleep and missed the traditional welcome ceremonies, a PR obligation under the players’ contract. This saw world No84 Walker harshly fined, but formed part of a learning curve that he was keen to share with the Perth potter.

WORLD champion Ronnie O’Sullivan picked Joel Walker out as a 16-year-old to win a ‘Pot Idol’ style talent competition put on by Rileys almost four years ago and held in the Winter Gardens in Sheffield during the World Championships.

After ending up being the Rocket’s top choice in that ‘Future Stars’ selection process Walker, now 19 and ranked 84th in the world, turned professional two years ago,

O’Sullivan was watching in the media centre as Walker beat defending champion Stephen Maguire to reach his first ranking-event quarter-final.

He said: “I picked him in the Future Stars, he was the best of the juniors coming through and I have followed his career very closely. He did well in a PTC in Antwerp and I was actually surprised, he has improved so much in such a short space of time. He is starting to get results against good players and I am so happy for him. I think he will win tournaments now, he obviously has that love and desire for the game, he wants to play and is improving rapidly. I picked a good ‘un there, maybe I should be a scout more often.”

It was like that moment when someone hurriedly takes the black-ish suitcase off the airport baggage belt and leaves for home, without checking the name. John Higgins and close friend Stephen Maguire finished their last-32 matches at almost exactly the same time on Wednesday night, the older man having beaten Mark King 4-0 with the defending champion seeing off Andrew Pagett by the same scoreline. The pair rattled through their press duties, both looking to take advantage of a relatively early 8.30pm finish and enjoy something of the evening. But in his haste Higgins, picking up what is an admittedly similar case to his own, rushed out of the Newport Centre building with Maguire’s cue. Rolling his eyes Maguire left with Higgins’ own playing equipment, hoping to track his pal down as soon as possible for an exchange before their last-16 matches on Thursday.