1) ASHOT POTIKYAN - The 50 year-old businessman and snooker enthusiast travelled from his home in Armenia to compete in the 1996 Benson and Hedges Championship at the JP Leisure Centre, Edinburgh. On arrival Potikyan was given the news that he was, in fact, 24 hours late for his first round match and had been scratched. Dates had been changed some weeks before but the letter informing Potikyan of this had been lost in the cross-continental post.

2) GRAEME DOTT - Resembled the John Cleese character in ‘Clockwise’ en route to the 2002 China Open in Shanghai. Delayed flights at Glasgow, Heathrow and Bangkok saw him turn up late and exhausted. The jet-lagged Scot overslept, dressed in a taxi but the driver lost his way to the venue. Dott ran the last quarter of a mile, in his dress suit, cue in hand, through a crowded market but still arrived 30 minutes late and was docked two frames. He lost 5-3 to Darren Morgan.

3) ALEX HIGGINS – The 1972 and 1982 world champion grew increasingly grouchy over the years so was not best pleased after being docked the opening frame against Dene O’Kane in the second round of the 1989 Hong Kong Open. The Hurricane claimed that he had been unavoidably detained in a hotel lift.

4) STEPHEN MAGUIRE – After he and Shaun Murphy had shaken hands before meeting in the first round of the 2004 Grand Prix at Preston Guild Hall, Maguire realised he had left his chalk in his dressing room. He asked permission from the referee, Johan Oomen, to retrieve it, which was granted, and nipped backstage. However, Murphy then approached Oomen and questioned whether Maguire should be docked a frame as, technically, he was not ready to play at the scheduled time. Mike Ganley, the tournament director, was called and ruled that Murphy’s claim was legitimate. Maguire was furious and 1-0 down before a ball had been potted but won 5-2 nevertheless.

5) ALI CARTER – The Essex professional was deep in discussion with his coach, Terry Griffiths, during the interval in the concluding session of a first round contest with Stuart Bingham, a local rival, at the United Kingdom Championship this season. Confusion arose over their re-start time and an inexperienced Belgian official insisted Carter was late in returning. He was docked a frame and subsequently lost 9-8.

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