By Phil Harlow BBC Sport at The Crucible

Rapper 50 Cent spells out his support for Mark Williams

Cue Zone is home to a plethora of snooker-related computer games, displays and a full-size table where trickshot exhibitions and an attempt to break Ken Doherty's 23.4 secs world record for clearing the colours off their spots.

It also provides a service for fans to write messages of support to their favourite players on the wall.

Taking their inspiration from 50 Cent's massive hip-hop hit 'In Da Club', the quartet of Georgina, Steph, Kieran 'n' Adam give the defending champion a boost.

"Mark Williams/It's your birthday/We're gonna party/Like it's your birthday - Mark, you can do it," they say, and who could argue?

Jimmy's latest premature exit from the tournament will come as a blow to long-term fan Robert, and presumably long-term White backer, who wrote "Come on Jimmy - make me some money - you owe me!"

Elsewhere, messages range from the cryptic: "Go on Joe, you can do it - knowledge is power," to the unlikely: "Tony Drago, you're the man" (Drago failed to qualify this year) to the potentially libellous: "Go Stephen Lee - I like 'em big!"

Barry Pinches, the man who ended Jimmy White's Crucible dreams for another year, made an early bid for fashion statement of the tournament with his fetching green and yellow-backed waistcoat.

Pinches had good reason for his departure from conventional snooker apparel of waistcoat, maybe with a hint of tartan, emblazoned as obviously as possibly with a sponsor's logo.

Firstly, he has no sponsor. And secondly he is a proud Norwich City supporter.

And that's just about the only acceptable excuse for wearing a green and yellow waistcoat in public.

It's not often Sheffield finds itself at the centre of the sporting world.

And you certainly couldn't accuse the South Yorkshire city of reticence when it comes to letting everybody know what�s going on inside The Crucible.

You can hardly fail to notice the bright green 'Sheffield On Cue' banners hanging off of every lamp post, while the Cue Zone installation dominates the high street.

Even a walk through the spectacular Winter Gardens - basically an enormous indoor greenhouse - ends with the incongruous sight of a full-size snooker table surrounded by palm trees and exotic flowers.