Jimmy White's troubled week ended with a disappointing exit at the hands of Mark King at the Irish Masters in Dublin today.
White hit the headlines after being arrested on suspicion of possessing a Class A drug when his hotel room was raided in Preston last Tuesday.
The Whirlwind played through the storm to beat Gary Wilkinson in the opening round of the Irish event at the weekend, but despite scoring 66 points more than King, he was beaten 5-3 to be denied a place in the quarter-finals.
White said: "I love playing in Ireland and I've had great support here - I'm sick about losing because I slung a few frames away."
King, the world number 22 from Romford, won four frames on the black - including the sixth to lead 4-2 after coming back from 1-72 down with the aid of two snookers.
King said: "Jimmy outscored me all day but missed at the vital time and I was able to take advantage. "Winning the sixth frame was massive for me, as were all the other black ball frames."
King has himself suffered off-table problems and threatened to retire from snooker after a first round exit at last season's Embassy World Championship.
His disillusionment was compounded when his mother, Sandra, was sentenced to life in October for the murder of her cousin. But King recovered from 8-4 down against Adrian Gunnell to beat him 10-8 and qualify for the Crucible last week.
And a 5-4 first-round victory over Stephen Hendry went even further to restoring much needed lost confidence.
"I was going to retire but decided not to and got my head down instead. If my mind is mentally right I can beat anyone," said King, who faces Scotland's Graeme Dott in the quarter-finals.
John Higgins, the champion in 2000 and 2002, was relieved after fighting past Hong Kong's Marco Fu. Higgins eventually won 5-3 after surviving a mid-match wobble in which he lost two frames on the black, one of which took a marathon 47 minutes.
The world number four, who battled through with breaks of 111, 41 and 82, meets Quinten Hann in the quarter-finals after the Australian edged world number five Stephen Lee 5-4.
Home favourite Ken Doherty will face England's Stuart Bingham in tonight's second round match.