Marco Fu suffered a shock first-round defeat as the Players Tour Championship Grand Finals got under way in Dublin.
Hong Kong cueman Fu, who was runner-up to Ding Junhui at the Wembley Masters in January, was beaten 4-1 by England's Michael Holt.
Holt was coming off the disappointment of losing to Welshman Dominic Dale in the final round of World Championship qualifying on Saturday, the lowest point of a poor season.
But the 32-year-old set that to one side and saw off Fu after breaks of 60, 104 and 54.
Holt said: 'It's devastating not being in the World Championship - the hardest thing in the world.
'No matter how good or bad a season you've had, if you qualify for the World Championship then you feel positive, but it's heart-breaking for players that don't make it.
'This event in Ireland is now my World Championship. It's a great event in its own right, in a fantastic arena and hopefully I can have a run here.'
Holt will face Barry Pinches on Friday in the second round of the Dublin tournament, and said: 'I can beat anyone and have beaten most players that I've played at some point.
'I'm not frightened of winning, I've just been inconsistent and this season has been a nightmare.'
There was also a welcome victory for Mark Davis, who reached the Crucible in 2010 but also failed to qualify for this year's World Championship at the weekend.
Davis saw off Joe Jogia 4-0 today to set up a meeting with Stephen Lee.
Davis told worldsnooker.com: 'Everyone wants to get to the Crucible and if you know you're going to Sheffield then you're a lot happier.'
