Jimmy White will not be returning to the Crucible this year after falling victim to Mark King and an injured neck.
The fading Whirlwind, 45, was humbled 10-3 by King in the final qualifying round of the 888.com World Championship at the English Institute of Sport in Sheffield.
'I came here playing to a really high standard in practice but on the journey up north I cricked my neck and this is one game you can't play with a cricked neck,' said a disgruntled White.
'It's so frustrating because I've worked really hard for this. I've got no idea how I did it, maybe it was the excitement and the tension of being involved here, but it's sickening.
'I'm in agony. I'd rather be bleeding somewhere than have this. I couldn't cue properly and I didn't hit a safety the way I wanted to all day.'
He added: 'This is a real kick in the teeth. It's like having clamps on my neck and when you get over a shot someone squeezes them. I'm not saying I would've won without it but at least I'd have had a proper chance.'
White, six times a World Championship runner-up and 10 times a semi-finalist without ever quite managing to get his name on the coveted trophy, desperately wanted to make a 26th Crucible appearance.
Instead, the veteran campaigner was brushed aside, leaving many to wonder whether snooker's most popular player will ever again grace the game's most famous venue.
Despite a depressing sequence of results this season, White recorded early world qualifying victories over Matt Selt (10-4) and Andrew Higginson (10-7) at Preston in January to suggest he could again be part of snooker's showpiece occasion.
Instead, for the second year in succession, White failed in his mission as even a hugely supportive crowd failed to inspire him.
'Maybe I should've gone and had an injection. I was debating that. It was a horrible situation to be in. I'm in absolute shreds,' added White, who revealed he went for a neck massage in between sessions.
Helped by runs of 44 and 61, King led 3-0 before snatching the fourth with a brown-to-pink clearance.
Things went from bad to worse for the woefully out-of-sorts White as King forged 5-0 ahead thanks to a run of 68 before his vastly-experienced opponent struck back.
Aided by a run of 46 in frame six - his best contribution of a miserable session - White finally broke his duck but he drew a blank for the remainder of the session.
Without being especially impressive, King established an 8-1 lead at the conclusion of the morning's play as White aggregated a meagre 26 points in the closing three frames.
When they restarted, White briefly sparked to life, compiling a vintage 90 clearance in pulling back to 8-3.
But the Londoner could not sustain his recovery as King crossed the line with runs of 72 and 58 in the following two frames.
White has secured just enough ranking points to retain his place on the main tour next season but will now enter every event in the opening qualifying round and will need to negotiate four matches to reach the Crucible in 2009.
But he remains convinced he has more to offer and has not given retirement a thought.
'I'm still making 147s and hitting the ball great in practice. I'm not giving up when I'm playing this well,' he insisted.
King, through to the Crucible for the 10th time, was as delighted as White was dejected.
He said sympathetically: 'Jimmy didn't play well. You could see he was struggling but when things are going against you this game can be hard.
'Obviously I'm pleased to go through but I told Jimmy at the end that I was sorry to beat him.
When I qualified for the Crucible for the first time he was the only one who took time out to speak to me. You don't forget things like that.'
