TWO-and-a-half miles away from Sheffield's Crucible Theatre, the home of the World Snooker Championship for the past 41 years, the English Institute of Sport is playing host to qualifiers for this year's tournament.

By next Wednesday, 128 hopefuls will have been whittled down to just 16, who will then be waiting to find out which of the sport's top players they will face when the main event gets under way on April 21.

All of this takes place away from the glare of the BBC Sport cameras which will broadcast the 17 days of action at the Crucible to an estimated 400 million viewers worldwide, but it is within the confines of these 11 cubicles that dreams are realised and broken.

They are a cosmopolitan bunch, these 128 players; former World Champions, multiple ranking event winners, seasoned tour veterans, newcomers to the professional ranks and optimistic amateurs who have earned a shot at the big time.

For example, among the lesser-known competitors is a man with the nickname 'The Albino Assassin' – world-ranked number 96 Allan Taylor.

The 33-year-old is one of those bidding to reach the televised stages of the World Championship for the first time, with his pre-snooker career seeing him working at a police station in Birkenhead studying CCTV footage.

Taylor, who does a fine line in impressions as well, must first overcome two-time World Championship semi-finalist and four-time ranking event winner Stephen Maguire to have any hope of doing so though.

Then there is Gary Wilson, who got to face Ronnie O'Sullivan on his Crucible bow last year and once took up being a taxi driver in his hometown of Wallsend to support his snooker ambitions.

He faces Polish player Adam Stefanow, one of a growing number of players from countries not thought of as snooker-playing nations.

Others at the qualifiers this week include Brazil's Igor Figueiredo, who had only played on 10-foot tables before entering the old second-tier International Open Series in 2009, and Swiss prospect Alexander Ursenbacher.

Of the old stagers, 2002 World Champion Peter Ebdon, six-time runner-up Jimmy White and Thai star James Wattana all lined up at the EiS this week, as did the world's top two female players, Ng On Yee and Reanne Evans.

Of course, the qualifiers are a place where careers can be ended as well, most infamously Alex Higgins' in 1995, when he was beaten 10-5 by former Buddhist monk Tai Pichit at Blackpool's Norbreck Castle Hotel.

That came 23 years after Higgins had announced himself on the scene by becoming the first qualifier to win the World Championship, with only two others – Terry Griffiths in 1979 and Shaun Murphy in 2005 – having done that since the move to the Crucible.

In truth, such a feat is unlikely to be replicated by any of this year's hopefuls, but that will not stop anyone treading the long road to the Crucible daring to dream about lifting the famous trophy.

And for any player, just reaching the televised stages of snooker's premier event can provide a huge boost for their career.

AS far as public resignations go, it was a pretty spectacular one.

In the wake of Ipswich Town's 1-0 win over Barnsley on Tuesday evening, Mick McCarthy strode into his post-match press conference, spoke briefly about the game, took a pop at the fans who booed one of his substitutions and announced: "I'm out of here."

The former Ireland international had already been set to leave his position as manager at Portman Road when the season comes to a conclusion, but in a typically no-nonsense McCarthy way, decided he had already had enough.

It is a stark contrast to the way managers usually depart, especially England managers.

Notably, Roy Hodgson mumbling through a hastily-scribbled statement in the wake of the Euro 2016 debacle or Kevin Keegan quitting after contemplating his future in a toilet at Wembley.

No doubt Big Mick will soon be back in management. Personally, I hold out hope he will be tempted by the challenge at Northampton Town.

YESTERDAY marked the 25th anniversary of what is regarded as one of the greatest victories of Ayrton Senna's career in the rain-soaked 1993 European Grand Prix at Donington Park.

Much has already been said and written about that race in the intervening quarter of a century, with Senna's opening-lap drive from fifth to first being regarded by many as a classic in its own right.

Such was the Brazilian's dominance and mastery on a day of changing conditions that he lapped all of the field in his McLaren bar second-placed finisher Damon Hill.

Little wonder then Senna's efforts on that afternoon in the East Midlands are still fondly remembered, with Donington commemorating the day by running as-live tweets of the Grand Prix on their Twitter account.

But that was not the only notable thing about the race - well, not the only thing if you happen to be interested in quirky things going on around the event, anyway.

One was the fact the BBC's coverage on the day was, with regular motorsport presenter Steve Rider being away covering the Masters in Augusta, hosted by none other than ex-Arsenal player Bob Wilson.

Wilson had, of course, garnered plenty of experience hosting sport for the Corporation since retiring from playing football and was pressed into service due to the race being broadcast on Sunday Grandstand rather than under the Grand Prix banner.

Nevertheless, the former goalkeeper seemed somewhat baffled by everything going on around him. Still, the choice was perhaps not so strange when you consider the BBC had future conspiracy theorist David Icke hosting their snooker coverage in the 1980s.

Then there was the post-race trophy presentation, which ended up being hijacked by that year's European Grand Prix sponsors Sega.

Along with the official trophy presented by the FIA, the Japanese video game company had their own prize crafted featuring corporate mascot and gaming icon Sonic the Hedgehog.

This was duly thrust into Senna's hands for a quick photo opportunity before the actual presentation took place, before being swiftly discarded by the three-time World Champion. Its present location remains unknown.

Naturally, Senna's brilliance is the talking point. However, it keeps these quirky moments in the spotlight as well.