This time the reaction contrasted sharply with last week's emotional outburst in Germany. Stephen Hendry sat grim-faced and mute, apparently incapable of speech after joining Ken Doherty as a quarter-final casualty yesterday in the £305,000 Irish Snooker Open at the National Basketball Arena, Tallaght.
Doherty's 5-1 defeat by Mark Williams was particularly disappointing for his legion of young, local supporters. Though the player himself was philosophical about the outcome, deep down his torment must have matched Hendry's.
"It's really a shame for me to lose on home ground but that's life," said Doherty afterwards. "Mark played very well, scoring heavily when he got among the balls. It seems I'm stuck with a lack of consistency. I don't seem to be able to do anything about it."
The Dubliner was entitled to feel good about his prospects after winning the opening frame with a clearance of 35 from the last red. But Williams, who had lost their previous four meetings, gradually began to find form, building frame-winning scores with breaks of 53, 44 and 40.
Then came the Welshman's third century of the tournament, a break of 133 to lead 3-1. And from then on, the reigning British Masters champion never looked likely to let Doherty back into the match. Indeed, he effectively spoke for his opponent when saying: "If you struggle at this level, you'll get beaten."
The sort of confidence evident in his Wembley victory on a re-spotted black last February has not dimmed despite indifferent recent form. Was he apprehensive about playing the local favourite? "No. It made no difference. I can shut those things out and get on with my game."
Given the quality of his play this week, Williams is going to make his opponents do the worrying, now that he has reached the second semi-final scheduled for tomorrow night.
It is 14 years since Tony Drago thrilled Dubliners with his break-building skills during the World Amateur Championship in Malahide. On this occasion, however, the excitement he generated was in a dramatic comeback from 4-2 against Hendry, culminating in black-ball winning efforts in the final two frames.
At that stage, even his manager, a '60s rocker with the exotic name of Troy Dante (his group were The Infernos, naturally), felt so low about Drago's chances that he promptly booked his flight home. But the socalled L'Istilla ta Malta, the star of Malta, found reserves that surprised even himself.
"Don't ask me what happened; I'm so tired that my game doesn't allow me to feel any pressure," he said. "I've been a pro for 14 years which means that I know how good Stephen is. So I was surprised that he let me off the hook."
Where the mercurial Maltese was surprised, Hendry was clearly shocked to lose at the quarter-final stage for a second successive week. The only word he uttered at the obligatory, post-match press-conference was "shrewd", in response to the inevitable question as to whether he was disappointed.
Holding his cue-case in his left hand and poised to stand up at any moment, he made only minimally animated responses to further questioning. In fact, it was almost embarrassing to sit there watching a great player publicly seethe at his own professional inadequacy.
The outcome would have been particularly galling for the six-times world champion, in view of the largely scrappy nature of the early frames. Either player could have been 4-0 ahead at the mid-session break; instead they were level at 2-2.
An exception, however, was an impressively constructed break of 106 from Drago in the third. But it was Hendry who went on to open up a 4-2 lead, taking the sixth with modest breaks of 25, 12 and 23. Even when Drago stole the seventh on the pink, his admirable resistance seemed in vain when the Scot led 62-0 in the eighth, looking set for a predictable win.
Eighteen months ago, Hendry would have completed the job with ruthless precision. Not now. He allowed Drago back into the frame with a break of 39 and the Maltese went on to take it, totally against the odds, by clearing the colours.
Drago was favoured by the run of the balls when achieving some unlikely safety early in the last frame. And despite what had gone before, the odds had switched back into Hendry's favour when he led by 48 to 26. But he then made the fatal mistake of leaving the last red over a pocket and Drago responded with a winning clearance of 30.
So, having lost all of their first 12 meetings, the Maltese has now won his last two matches against Hendry.
