JULY 12

Car Trouble For Slim

Steve Davis, the Mosconi Cup vet, suffered a tortuous time trying to make his way to Cardiff over the past two days.

Romford Slim, who reached the quarter finals here in 2000, hit his first snag on Friday when the alternator packed up on his vintage BMW.

Unable to have it fixed in time, Davis was forced to borrow his brother-in-law's car and make the trip on Saturday morning.

Half way down the M4, though, the air conditioning went, leaving Steve driving in furnace-like conditions.

'My Maltesers melted,' he commented afterwards.

Fabio Furioso

Italian maestro Fabio Petroni through a wobbly down at the practice area, when he couldn't get a knock prior to his opening match this afternoon.

With 128 players descending on the four practice tables today, carnage was inevitable and it got the better of the temperamental Italian.

'He threw all the practice schedules about and stormed off in a huff, ' said Clive Cox, Matchroom's man in the pool village.

To remedy the problem, another table will be moved on Sunday.

Iron Man Melling in Kidney Scare

Game Chris Melling knows all about playing under pressure. At the qualifying tournament last Tuesday, Chris had to phone for his own ambulance as he went down with a painful attack of kidney stones.

After a short stay in hospital, he returned to the tourney and did the business in the final tournament to secure a spot in Group 15, where he currently sports a two wins from two record.

Marathon Man Gary Back at CIA

Gary Baker, the hard-working freelancer who covers the tournament for a whole host of 'papers, stunned his colleagues when he revealed that he had completed the Cardiff Marathon in September last year.

More familiar with the leisurely aspects of Gazza's lifestyle, they were surprised to learn that he had covered the 26 plus miles in a little over five hours.

Gary said: "I'm still on the ciggies and I'm still on the beer but at least I raised £500 for the Heath Hospital Special Care Baby Unit, where my daughter was born three months premature."

JULY 13

Cruz Case-less In Cardiff

Puerto Rican Jason Cruz was case-less in Cardiff as Dutch airline KLM contrived to lose his luggage on the last leg of his flight from Amsterdam to Cardiff.

That was on Thursday and by Sunday his kit had yet to arrive. The hapless Cruz has been forced to borrow cues and clothing from big hearted colleagues but is fuming at the airline's service.

Clive Cox, Matchroom's man in the pool village blasted, "KLM are a disgrace. They have given me twelve different phone numbers and failed to return a call from any of them. Meanwhile, Jason is having his week ruined by these mugs."

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