Fergal O'Brien achieved one of the most satisfying results of his career at Wembley last night, defeating fellow Irishman Ken Doherty to reach the semi-finals of the £650,000 Masters.
O'Brien stunned the recently crowned Welsh Open winner 62 and now plays Dave Harold tonight for a place in the final, who beat John Parrott 6-5 on a re-spotted black after trailing 51.
And when world number nine O'Brien opened up a similar lead on his Nations Cup team mate, one cruel wag shouted out: `come on Fergal, do a John Parrott.'
"That was very nice - I don't think," said O'Brien. "It did cross my mind that the same thing could happen to me.
"When you are playing the best and you stop playing and get a bit tight, you are by no means home and dry.
"But fortunately I managed to take my chances. It's a big win for me because Ken isn't just a fellow countryman, he's a good friend and a practice partner."
O'Brien, a last 16 winner against world champion and world number one Mark Williams, made the perfect start.
He knocked in breaks of 84, 64 and 61 to lead 3-0 while Doherty managed only four points in reply.
O'Brien ground out a 46minute fourth frame to reach the interval 4-0 ahead.
Doherty came out all guns blazing after the break and a run of 83 opened his account, but he wasted chances to cut his arrears to 4-2 and O'Brien moved one frame closer to the last four.
Briefly, Doherty threatened to `do a Harold' when he clinched frame seven and he was in a good position to take the eighth as well.
Instead, he missed the final brown and O'Brien studiously potted brown to black to complete his 6-2 success.
"I really thought it was going to be another good week for me," said Doherty, a Masters runner-up for the last two years.
"I'll just have to lick my wounds and wait for the next one," added the world number seven.
Stephen Hendry, who has so often disappointed Jimmy White's loyal legions of supporters, did so again in their quarter-final as his 6-4 win carried him into this afternoon's semi-final against the 22-year-old Yorkshireman, Paul Hunter.
Having lost all four of their previous Wembley meetings and all four of their world finals, White led 3-1 yesterday. But he simply did not exploit his break-building opportunities heavily enough as unforced errors, both of a potting and a positional nature, bedevilled his game.
Hendry was often fallible himself but, as White saw it, "just seemed to hang in there a bit better than me when it went scrappy".
A 99 break gave the six-time Masters champion his only success in the first four frames, but his late 45 after committing a couple of glaring errors crucially secured the fifth.
With his confidence restored, Hendry clinched the next two frames with 54 and 113 and extended his lead to 5-3 by clearing from last red to pink after White, in first with 51, had missed a dolly red.
Despite needing three bites at the cherry, White won the ninth and seemed as if he might carry the contest the full distance when Hendry was twice distracted by spectators early in the 10th.
"They were fine on the whole," said Hendry of a crowd which, while vociferous in its support for the 38-year-old Londoner, had given both players pin-drop quiet on the shot. "It was just a few of them when I got near the winning line."
Hendry had predicted as much before the match began: "I think earmuffs will be the order of the day. I might have a couple of people supporting me. There is shouting and there is shouting. Hopefully, it will be kept under control. "But sometimes you get an idiot who calls out when they shouldn't do. But they don't only do it when I'm playing, they do it when Jimmy or Ronnie are playing as well.
"If we don't get any nonsense then we should get a great match."
Their departures from expected standards angered Hendry, but when White lost position on 51 within sight of 55, the Scot held his nerve admirably to clear to the pink with 44 for his 23rd victory over White in 34 attempts.
