The late re-scheduling of the PTC Grand Finals may have been warmly greeted for the return of top-level snooker to Preston’s famous Guildhall, steeped in history, but the switch did present certain difficulties for those having planned trips to the Far East assuming they would be in Thailand after the Haikou World Open and prior to the China Open in Beijing. Ricky Walden and his girlfriend had originally intended to spend a week in Hong Kong with friends along with manager Lee Gorton, plans that had to be hastily re-arranged by the player once the Lancashire date was announced for the tournament, leaving his pal to make the trip alone. And Jamie Jones was among those players having booked flights to Bangkok and left scrabbling trying to recoup the outlay.

Referee Jan Verhaas has been busy planning his wedding, with the registry office ceremony due to take place in fiancée Alena Skarabahataya’s home country of Belarus in the summer. The couple plan to live in Holland after tying the knot, and Alena has been busy swotting up on Dutch history and culture as well as learning the language for the exam foreign nationals have to take before taking up residence in the country. The happy couple will get hitched in Minsk, in front of a small number of family and friends, including Verhaas’s parents who will travel from the Netherlands. Many congratulations go to both Jan and Alena, and we at Inside Snooker hope you enjoy your big day.

Taking on world No2 Mark Selby is difficult enough at the best of times, but Dominic Dale could at least plead illness and preparation that was far from ideal after slumping to a 4-0 defeat at the last-32 stage of the BetVictor Welsh Open. Unluckily snookering himself and then going in-off on the blue in the decisive frame only made the Shootout champion feel worse. Dale said: “All day in the studio on Tuesday I was shivering and feverish, and really felt very ill. At least it wasn’t as bad today out there and I only had a bit of a headache. Bad as I felt, you can’t win a match with the run of the ball I got out there. I haven’t had a match like that for years.”

Mark King and Alfie Burden were among those caught out by the heavy traffic along the M4 on their way over the Severn Bridge for first-round matches with a 72,000 crowd converging that night not on the Newport Centre but the Wales v France Six Nations match at the Millennium Stadium in Cardiff. King at one point tweeted: “Nice poodle down to Newport, just taken 5hrs 36 and counting,see if we can play when the World Cup of football is on too #trafficjam .”

Burden’s plight was if anything worse, given that unlike King – playing Sean O’Sullivan on Saturday morning – he was due on table at 7pm on Friday night against Ahmed Saif. But both not only made it to Newport, but also through their last-128 stage matches. At least neither had to try and get on the two-carriage trains from Cardiff station back to Newport afterwards, which was by all accounts an even worse experience.

Recent Shootout winner Dominic Dale is usually pretty busy for his home event at the BetVictor Welsh Open. Even when his time in the draw comes to an end – and often before – he has other commentary duties with BBC Wales. And while remembering to pack all his TV studio gear Dale for the first time in a 22-year career neglected to bring a waistcoat in which to play his last-64 contest against Dechawat Poomjaeng. Dale had to go out hunting for something to wear at 9am on the Monday morning of the match, finally ending up parting with £25 for a natty white number from wedding menswear hire shop Cayzers on the Chepstow Road in Newport.

Top referee Michaela Tabb has toughed it out in some luxurious five-star hotels in her time as a worldwide traveller, not least while on duty for events such as pool’s Mosconi Cup in Las Vegas. The Scottish official, on duty at the BetVictor Welsh Open, admits to a weakness for time spent in the MGM Grand and Mirage hotels in the Nevada desert – but was faced with slightly different accommodation in Newport. World Snooker officials and tournament staff, traditionally housed for this event in the Hilton by the M4, found themselves in the humbler surroundings of the Newport Central Travelodge – alongside fans, lower-ranked players (and freelance journalists). When asked to compare the facilities with the Bellagio with its magnificent fountains, Tabb would only offer a tactful: “No comment.”