Alex Higgins crashed to defeat on his latest return to competitive action when Fergal O'Brien beat him 5-0 in the first round of the vcpoker.ie Irish Professional Championship in Dublin last night.
The controversial twice former world champion received an invite to play alongside Irish snooker's leading modern-day players but failed to produce the golden form of his past.
Higgins, 58, managed a highest break of only 30 as O'Brien punished his mistakes to book a quarter-final meeting with Mark Allen.
O'Brien, the 1999 British Open champion, started the match with breaks of 75 and 92 before building a 4-0 interval lead.
Higgins looked set to avert a whitewash when he build a 53-point lead in the fifth but O'Brien got in and, on a break of 50 with just the black remaining, Higgins offered his hand to concede.
O'Brien said: ‘I had to be professional and just play the balls rather than Alex himself. I was delighted to draw him because I've never played him before and I'm pleased that when I got in I showed a bit of form.’
Higgins, winner of the world crown in 1972 and 1982, has not competed on the professional circuit for a decade but has played in the Irish event, which he won five times in the 1970s and 80s, for the last three years.
Belfast's Joe Swail raced into the last eight with a 5-1 victory over Colm Gilcreest while Dubliner Michael Judge defeated Dessie Sheehan 5-1.
Defending champion Ken Doherty takes on 17 year-old Vincent Muldoon in today's semi-finals.
