1. The most unusual delay to a match in the World Championship came in 1973 at the City Exhibition Halls, Manchester when rain really did stop play, mid-frame, in the quarter-final between Alex Higgins and Fred Davis. In a city known for its precipitation, raindrops were falling on the player’s heads and the table due to a leaky roof. The position of the balls had to be marked until the problem was resolved.

2. Unwelcome visitors caused a hold up in proceedings on an early day at the 1997 World Amateur Championship in Bulawayo, Zimbabwe. The snag was an infestation of flying insects that covered many of the tables. Marco Fu was not bugged, and went on to capture the title, long after the swarm had departed.

3. Jimmy White’s match in the penultimate qualifying round of this year’s 888.com World Championship, at Pontin’s Holiday Camp in Prestatyn had barely begun when fire alarms started ringing. It transpired that an employee had incorrectly opened a safe and thick white smoke - a deterrent to would be robbers - billowed out.

4. The 1996 German Open was staged in mid-December in an arena situated within Roberts Barrack, part of the British Army camp at Osnabruck. During the first round contest between Ken Doherty and Mark Williams the heating system broke down and their mid-session interval, scheduled for 15 minutes, instead lasted almost two hours.

5. The final of the inaugural Welsh Professional Championship, between Ray Reardon and Doug Mountjoy, was underway in 1977 when the television lighting rig, rudimentary by today’s standards, malfunctioned. A light crashed onto the table beneath causing play to be suspended while broken glass was swept off the baize.

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