All of his career Derek Ryan had been waiting for the chance to bring the world's best around to his place, but, having finally realised his dream of competing in a world ranking event on home turf, the Dubliner's hopes of making an memorable impact at this Nivea For Men-sponsored Irish Open Championships were to prove painfully short-lived.
It never looked the most promising of draws for the 30-year-old Irish number one. Just a couple of weeks ago in New York he had beaten Simon Parke during an impressive run at the Tournament of Champions, but that turned out to be a mixed blessing.
Then, the Englishman had been hauled back from two games in front as Ryan built up a head of steam. But this time there was simply no stopping the world number four, whose progress towards victory was slowed in the third game of a 51-minute match, but only fleetingly. The support of the substantial crowd at Fitzwilliam rarely rose above the moral.
Ryan started slowly, and made too many errors to hold his own against a quick opponent whose strength from the front of the court immediately put the Dubliner under pressure.
There were flashes of the sort of play which the local favourite needed to produce if he was edge Parke out and make it into the last eight of this weekend's event. At 10-8 down in the second, he brilliantly won a long rally with a clever cross-court winner that completely wrongfooted his opponent. Suddenly there was a hint that he might be on the way back.
It was the middle of the next game, though, before he really found his stride. But after he had won seven points out of 10 to lead 11-10 in the third, he had simply run himself too close to empty against his 27-year-old rival who clearly scented victory.
Ryan denied any hint of nervousness in front of his home crowd, crediting his poor start instead to Parke's emphatic playing style.
"He got me on the back foot completely. I was pinned back there at the back of the court and there was just nothing I could do about it.
Immediately before Ryan's match, world number one Peter Nicol had performed cooly to come from a game behind Australia's John White.
Ahmed Barada, though, is not best known around the circuit for his even temperament, and in contrast to his great rival from Scotland the Egyptian surrendered an early lead against Mark Chaloner, an English qualifier who continued his recently strong form on the circuit by beating the third seed 3-1 in a contest that lasted 83 minutes.
It wasn't the only surprise of the day - in the afternoon session Thierry Lincou of France had upset Paul Johnson - but it was by some way the biggest, and like Ryan's exit it deprived this weekend's outstanding event of one of its major attractions.
