The effects of all the travel undertaken by the professional players, particularly the way it affects sleep and eating patterns, can be easy to overlook in the modern game. Even before the opening ceremony dinner former World Championship finalist Nigel Bond admitted he felt unwell having arrived in the small hours and not eaten or slept well, and was briefly taken ill during the evening. Happily a medical check-up revealed nothing seriously wrong, and the 49-year-old Bond from Darley Dale recovered well to get through his wild-card round match 4-2 against Faisal Khan the following day.