MAGUIRE IN CREDIT DESITE MCGILL LOSS

Stephen Maguire occasionally gets some stick for his ‘heart on the sleeve’ reactions to and irritation with poor shots and misfortune in the arena while playing – much of it a little hard to understand, especially when Barry Hearn has called for players to show more true emotion during matches.

We hear that those reactions have even seen him hauled up before the authorities in the past, when there are any number of other things that would seem to merit more serious action in that respect. It is easy to sympathise sometimes with players who are left unsure of exactly what they can and can’t say or do without getting fined.

On a personal level, if drawing up a snooker ‘crime’ sheet there are some obvious ones from the match-fixing downwards, and very much towards the bottom would be expressing emotion at the table (with the possible exception of audibly swearing live on TV at family viewing times), and criticism of official table, cloth and ball manufacturers.

But Maguire was as generous as it is possible to get after such a draining match and defeat towards debutant Anthony McGill. After clawing his way back from 9-5 down to level at 9-9 Maguire went the way of Mark King in final qualifying, watching McGill knock in a century in the decider.

He had the good grace to tell McGill in the arena not to freeze against Mark Selby because he could give him a good game, and rather than excuse his defeat by claiming his opponent was brilliant was honest enough to say McGill can play a lot better.

ROBBIE WILLIAMS LOSES UNWANTED POINTS RECORD

Robbie Williams was devastated to learn of one unwanted Crucible record he owned before a first-round match with Stuart Bingham – the fewest points ever scored at the venue. On his one previous visit last year, a 10-2 loss to an in-form Neil Robertson, he scored just 269 points – but more promisingly stood just 41 points behind Joe Delaney.

“That has killed me that has, hearing that,” said Williams. “But at least I should get 42 points, you’d hope so. You might see me giving it the fist out in the arena when I get there.”

It didn’t take the 28-year-old from the Wirral long to rattle off the required points though, as he managed it in the second frame against Bingham to start moving rapidly up the table.

GUESSING GAMES START OVER VIP VISITORS

The Crucible can be a magnet for celebrities, sporting and otherwise, during the Betfred World Championships and such visits are usually heralded by days of frenzied speculation over which of the great and the good might be making the pilgrimage.

Last year of course Louis Tomlinson of One Direction dropped in before being whisked away in a security operation that would have impressed a US President. Early rumours this year saw names such as former Manchester United manager Sir Alex Ferguson and Chelsea skipper John Terry bandied around as possible visitors. We will see.

RAC CLUB'S DAYS MAY BE NUMBERED

Betfred staged the first launch of their return to the World Championship fold at the RAC Club on London’s Pall Mall, often used in past years for this event – but don’t be too surprised if that is no longer the case next season in the second year of their current three-year deal.

The surroundings are plush but the atmosphere slightly stuffy, not really in keeping with the image and ethos of the bookmaking firm as an organisation.

WALKER'S 'MEATBALL' CONUNDRUM

MC Rob Walker has had trouble coming up with a nickname for Ricky Walden since the world No7 requested that ‘Marathon Man’ be dropped, given how long ago it was he completed the 26 miles in his only running of the New York race.

However during a conversation on the subject in the media centre it emerged that in China Walden is known to all as ‘The Meatball’. This is because the initials RW, when spoken in Chinese, sound the same as for the dish.

While Walker was mulling over whether or not this would work for a British audience, it was pointed out that the same nickname could also be used for him.