Anyone who has visited the Jessie Vesey Sports Centre this week will undoubtedly have been impressed with the spectacle being put on there.

The state-of-the-art court, the myriad plasma screens and a slick presentation style which is making a sport - that has always struggled with its image - as marketable as you could hope for.

Technology is being employed at every turn to give the crowds the perfect mix of action and entertainment - and all should be applauded for a memorable opening ceremony on Monday night.

It is unfortunate, however, that the simplest of technologies failed early in that event - with the ceremony beginning somewhat inauspiciously for the Town Crier of Hamilton.

His thunderous ‘Oyez's were accompanied by some vigorous bell ringing, but, it appears, they were a little too vigorous as the clapper fell out of his shiny prop at just the third shake.

Once his corny speech was over, he surreptitiously bent down on his way off stage to pick up the offending item and will, no doubt, be ringing the changes to his equipment before his next outing.

***

Monday night was also notable for master of ceremonies Robert Edwards scaring the bejesus out of the majority of the crowd.

Halfway through what has been the match of the tournament so far, between Ong Beng Hee and clown prince Waed El Hindi, Edwards made a rare appearance on stage during a break between games.

“I wouldn't normally come on at this stage, but I have some breaking news from London that I thought I would share with you,” said Edwards, under the Masters spotlight.

At this point hearts entered mouths as images of a burning Houses of Parliament, a dying Queen Elizabeth II or planes being flown into Canary Wharf entered minds.

Instead this “breaking news” was simply that the rankings for April had just been completed and Amr Shabana was the new world number one.

Although it was an interesting piece of information - and Edwards should be applauded for his sense of timing and ability to manipulate the emotions of the crowd - it is perhaps a little implausible that those in charge of the rankings would have waited until 2 a.m. to break the news.

By all means, Mr. Edwards, entertain the crowd with your unique presentation style, but please stop needlessly scaring innocent squash fans.

***

It is only natural that the Egyptians taking part in the Masters would want to seek out a taste of home.

Spending ten months of the year on tour will no doubt limit their intake of hummous, tajeens, bachlava and, if they dare, the odd puff on a narghila, making a trip to Cafe Cairo an imperative while in Bermuda.

Unfortunately standing between the tabouleh and the players was a bouncer - and a no sneakers policy is a no sneakers policy, even if you are an Egyptian national hero.

***

Everybody who has attended the Masters this year and last will be familiar with the sight of an enthusiastic band of young kids furiously wiping down the sweat and condensation from the court in between games.

Dubbed the ‘court rats', they are an ever-present, highly-valued feature of the tournament and have done a sterling job so far.

Saying this, however, Commonwealth Games double gold medallist Peter Nicol was understandably bemused during his first round match against compatriot Jonathan Kemp when they both left the court mid-game to allow the ‘rats' to clear up the unusually large volume of sweat splashed across court.

Perspiring heavily in the humid conditions, Nicol reached down to his kit bag to retrieve his only towel in order to wipe himself down - only to discover that it was nowhere to be seen.

Peering around quizzically, it suddenly dawned on the world number six that in haste, one of the rats had picked up his virgin towel by mistake and was now using it to remove the players' rancid drippings from the floor and walls.

The Englishman appeared to take it all with good humour, however, even if he was then handed a fresh towel no bigger than a handkerchief to mop himself down.

***

The squash gods were clearly smiling on the Masters this year.

With a 32-player draw, first round matches were split between the all-glass court at BHS and the squash club in Devonshire.

Before the tournament began, work had to be done on the front wall of the club's main court, which included filling in a rather pronounced dent just above the service line.

16 professional players then spent Sunday and Monday pounding the plaster in the tournament's opening round and the court stood up admirably to the barrage.

Within 30 minutes of the final match finishing, however, local hackers Anthony White and Chase Toogood went on court for a casual afternoon hit.

Not long into their game, Toogood smacked a ball straight into the newly-plastered section and watched in horror as it exploded on impact and a large portion of the plaster crashed to the floor.

The hole was now even bigger than it had originally been - rendering the court completely unplayable.

One can only imagine how embarrassing it would have been for tournament organisers had this happened during the competition - it would, after all, have been plastered all over the local and international media.