There are five players appearing in the final qualifying round of the Betfred.com World Championship who have never played at the Crucible.

They are Adrian Gunnell, Tom Ford, David Morris, Anda Zhang and Mark Joyce.

Jimmy White's reward for beating Mark Boyle 10-8 in the Betfred.com World Championship qualifiers last night to salvage his professional status is another 10am start today.

This is both unfair and unnecessary. His match finished at around midnight. I'd imagine with all the adrenalin coursing through him White did not get straight off to sleep.

John Parrott's 10-6 defeat to Anda Zhang in the Betfred.com World Championship qualifiers this afternoon seems likely to herald the end of his professional career.

Parrott won the title at the Crucible in 1991 - a few months before his Chinese opponent was born.

But he will now struggle to remain in the top 64 and thus keep his place on the pro circuit after 27 years.

Professional snooker owes its rise to the TV big time to the BBC above anything else.

It was the BBC who showed black and white matches, usually featuring Joe Davis, as fillers between racing and other sports on Saturday afternoons in the 1950s.

It was the BBC that brought the viewing public Pot Black in colour, which made household names of the players of the 1970s.