They could barely stop talking about Ronnie O’Sullivan changing his tip, but when it came to tips of a different nature they were strangely subdued.
Or then, perhaps not. In opting for the more muted version of the Zhao Xintong betting ban, the BBC’s television crew simply remained loyal to its age-old safety game.
Ban? What ban? What elephant stomping around the Crucible?
Of course nobody expected the controversy to lead the Beeb’s output on Sunday and it would plainly have been insensitive if Rob Walker had referenced Zhao’s recent past when announcing the protagonists into the arena.