Archer Set For Walk Down Aisle (July 18)

Congratulations are in order to former World Champion Johnny Archer as he prepares for his last 16 showdown with Kun-fang Lee tomorrow at the CIA.

Archer is getting married on Sunday 4th August at the aptly named Spring Hope in North Carolina to the lovely Melanie Wynne (pictured right).

Both of them were snapped logging onto worldpoolchampionship.com earlier today for a full report on Johnny’s 9 - 7 win over Dutchman Rico Diks.

No Riches For Immonen Senior (July 17)

Matchroom Media supremo Luke Riches had the none-too-pleasant task of commentating on the last rack via a mobile phone to Mika Immonen’s dad Illka who was a nervous wreck back in Finland.

With the score at 8 - 5 to Mika, Immonen senior seemed in fine spirits and called back 20 minutes later full of hope.

The conversation went something like this: “Yes he’s on the green six but it’s a tough positional shot onto the eight…. he’s played that perfectly… he’s cuing up on the black…. it’s down… the 9-ball looks a cert ….. and it’s in….. sorry….” Bbbrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr

No Respite For Sleepless Jerry (July 17)

Dreaming Jerry Forsyth has had his worst one yet after another Jury’s nightmare. This time Jerry dreamt he was set to be executed in his home state of Texas via lethal injection.

When he entered the chamber of death he was advised that the executioner was having a day off, handed the syringes and told to do it himself.

What can it all mean? Suggestions on the Message Board

Jerry's Jury Gymnastics (July 16)

Sky Sports' American commentator Jerry Forsyth is, by his own admission, slowly going mad!

Forsyth, who is staying in Jury's Hotel opposite the CIA, has started having the weirdest of dreams despite sleeping soundly for nine hours every night.

Jerry confessed to us earlier today, “In the first one there were springs spilling out of my mouth. I’m not sure what that was all about.

“Last night, though, I had a really strange one in which I couldn’t walk and the only way I could get around was by somersaulting down the street.

“Eventually my shoulders became so bloodied that I couldn’t go anywhere and was stuck in the street!”

Can’t wait for tonight’s one!

Don't Give Up The Day Job Cory (July 14)

Cory Deuel - or is it Tiger Woods?

Pre-tournament betting favourite Cory Deuel has more than one sporting string to his bow. In common with his fellow American players, he’s a dab hand at golf.

However, last week Cory really put his ability to the test when he entered the qualifying event for the 2002 Daytona Open, a stop on the BUY.COM Tour, in his home town last week.

Effectively Cory turned pro to take his place on the first tee but an eight over par 80 left the reigning US Open champion missing the cut.

The man from West Jefferson explained his round: “I started bogey, double bogey, triple bogey but got on a birdie run to leave me +3 at the turn. I couldn’t get going on the back nine but really enjoyed the experience of teeing it up in a pro golf tournament.”

Lag-tastic Mate! (July 14)

A well-known European player had a major touch with a highly speculative bet with event bookmakers Stan James.

The Gibralter-based firm are offering prices on who will win the lag on selected matches and the said player had a £100 accumulator on five matches.

With four of the picks all ready up, the whole lot was riding on none other than Steve Davis.

Davis duly did the business and the Euro star pocketed the princely sum of £800. Nice work if you can get it!

Off The Rails (July 14)

Darren Appleton, the Pontefract-based qualfier who is making a bid for the Knock-Out stages via Group 13, hit a bit of a snag on Table 5 in his match against fellow Yorkshireman Paul Hunter.

Darren, returning to his seat from the table, went to lean his cue against the railings as many players do. Unfortunately, the cue fell straight through a gap and crashed via the scaffolding onto the ground15 feet below.

On retrieving his cue, Appleton discovered that the tumble had severely damaged it and he went on to lose 5 - 4.

Davis Tips Williams Disaster (July 13)

Propping Up Group 12?

There's a bit of rivalry amongst the snooker pros in this year's WPC with six-times former World Champion Steve Davis admitting to having put a tenner on Mark Williams to come BOTTOM of Group 12.

Davis took the Stan James odds of 7/1 on Williams failing and stands to win a whopping £80.

Romford Slim then fired a broadside at Steve Knight's individual dress style as he claimed that the Knight Rider was 'the worst dressed player in this event'!

We await the responses of Messers Williams and Knight!

"Fabulous" Fabio Petroni

Car Smash Leaves Fabio Doubtful (July 2)

Word reaches us that Italian pool ace Fabio Petroni has been hospitalised following a car crash in his home town of Rome.

Petroni, the 30 year-old who made a memorable appearance in the 1998 Mosconi Cup, was involved in a collision which left him with injuries that needed hospital treatment.

Apparently his chances of making the starting line-up at the CIA on

July 13th are no more than ’50 - 50’. worldpoolchampionship.com wish Fabio a rapid recovery and look forward to him give it his best shot in Cardiff.

Prince Among Men (June 20)

The top players from the UK-based Pro 9-Ball Tour have been getting in some royal practice as they prepare for the World Championships which kick off on July 13. Prince Billah, heir to the Sultan of Brunei is in London and has invited the lucky tour pros to play against him.

The Prince, who is an avid cueman, has played in half a dozen of the UK Tour events and is currently ranked at No. on the Pro 9-Ball Tour. Cardiff hopefulls Kevin Smith and Anthony Ginn tuned up against him last week at a secret London location.

Lee Tucker, Glenn Cooney, Ian Fountain, Rodney Bourke, Terry Hunt and Kevin Hew are all hoping to build themselves into Championship material and they prepare for the Qualifiers in Bristol which start on Saturday 6. So far the Prince is holding his own with a 50% success rate!

Me Lucky (June 13)

A well-known British pool player is quids in after winning £7,000 on the Croatia v Ecuador World Cup match. Bookies were offering odds of 7/1 on the unfancied South Americans pulling off a win and our man lumped on with £1000.

Ninety minutes later the Ecuadorians were 1-0 winners. Let's hope his luck holds out until July 21!

Hit Me With Your Rhythm Stick! (June 10)

The pair in opposition at the 2001 World Pool Masters

When the draw for the 2002 World Pool Championship is announced on Tuesday let’s hope that Filipino ace Francisco Bustamante and motor-mouth Earl Strickland don’t end up in the same group.

It seems that Earl the Pearl went a step too far at the recent Motolite 9-Ball World Challenge in Manila, slating Bustamante for messing up in his semi-final against Kunihiko Takahashi.

Bustamante, who is universally known for his politeness and good manners, was none too pleased: "You can write it. Strickland's a bad guy, he's an animal."

"His fellow Americans doesn't even like him. He should show respect and I'll hit him with a cue stick if he doesn't'stop talking."

Ooo-err!

Over the Hill? (June 10)

Which top English pool player has engaged the services of snooker’s top coach as he gets serious in his preparation for Cardiff?

Lincolnshire-based Del Hill who works with a number of top 16 snooker pros and was an integral part of Ronnie O’Sullivan’s World Snooker Championship win, is currently working with this player's cueing action.