By Phil Harlow BBC Sport at The Crucible

Hunter polishes off Parrott

David Beckham may have thought things could not get much worse with allegations of infidelity flying about and Real Madrid struggling on the pitch.

But now it seems that Beckham is beginning to lose his grip as hairstyle icon to the nation's young men.

Snooker pin-up Paul Hunter keeps his long blond locks tied back into a ponytail (or sometimes swept back with an alice band) while playing. Not unlike a certain England football captain.

Or at least it was, until Beckham reverted to the shaven-headed look.

"It's nice that people say I'm like David Beckham, he's successful, rich, has a nice wife - but I'm not him, I'm Paul Hunter," said Hunter, quite reasonably.

"I'm not going to chop my hair off like him - I like my hair too much!"

Meanwhile, Hunter's famous 'Plan B' could be about to swing back into action.

The 25-year-old has brought beauty consultant fianc�e Lindsey to Sheffield with him for his assault on the world title and he is already struggling to conceal his intentions.

Hunter's Plan B

"She's just had her hair extensions done so she's definitely not staying at home," said an amorous Hunter.

"She's looking sweet as."

Mind games and psychological warfare in the sporting world aren't just restricted to Sir Alex Ferguson and Arsene Wenger.

Ronnie O'Sullivan just can't stay out of the news at the moment, and he started to test second-round opponent Andy Hicks' parameters early in their encounter.

O'Sullivan broke with snooker etiquette by walking to the table and handling a red to concede the frame while Hicks was in the process of building a break.

But the Tavistock player, already exposed to Quinten Hann's eccentricities in the first round, showed he wasn't about to be intimidated by strolling out of the arena at the end of the fourth frame while the Rocket was still at the table.

The remainder of their match on Friday could well make for interesting viewing.

After surving a late fightback from six-time champion Steve Davis, Anthony Hamilton admitted playing at The Crucible does odd things to the mind.

"I was in a trance out there, for about 20 minutes," he said.

"The only way to get out of it is to get on the table and play. Your vision starts changing, and you notice things you didn't before.