John Higgins suffered a pre-Crucible shock when he lost his opening match at the £597,000 Regal Scottish Open in Aberdeen tonight.
The former world champion and world number one went down 5-4 against Londoner David Gray at the Exhibition and Conference Centre.
And the 26-year-old Scot admits it has been a Jekyll and Hyde season. Higgins won his fourth trophy of the 2001-2002 campaign at the Irish Masters in Dublin last month.
But he described today's performance as "pathetic" and "disgraceful" as Gray qualified for a last-16 showdown against Mark King or Anthony Hamilton.
"I don't know which person is going to turn up at Sheffield for the world championship," said Higgins, after letting slip a winning 4-3 lead.
Peter Ebdon, beaten by Higgins in the recent Irish Masters final, made a successful start to the defence of his crown beating John Parrott 5-3.
Ebdon now meets Ulsterman Joe Swail or Dubliner Michael Judge for a place in the quarter-finals.
Nigel Bond is looking for an extended run in Aberdeen after failing to qualify for the world championship.
And the former Crucible runner-up virtually guaranteed his place in the top 32 for next season by putting out former Benson and Hedges Masters runner-up Matthew Stevens 5-4.