Ronnie O'Sullivan marched into the semi-finals of the World Snooker Championship on Tuesday with Mark Selby now lying in wait in the last four - Richard Mann sets the scene.
The first 12 days of the delayed World Snooker Championship have certainly been worth the wait and with Ronnie O'Sullivan firmly on track for what would be a sixth world title in a glorious and magnificent career, there is every reason to think the best might still be to come.
It seems strange to think that O'Sullivan arrived in Sheffield with serious questions marks about his form this season, and perhaps more worryingly, his more recent Crucible record which had early exits in the last two years next to his name.
O'Sullivan described the World Championship as an 'ordeal' not so long ago but barring one bad session against Mark Williams, he has rarely looked in trouble this year as he swept aside Thepchaiya Un-Nooh before overpowering Ding Junhui and Mark Williams with late bursts that neither rival had the strength to resist.
That's not to say O'Sullivan has been at his sparking best; he hasn't. But what he has done is shown a willingness to scrap and fight to limit the damage when not firing with the potency we have become so accustomed to.
In a funny sort of way, the long, multi-session matches that O'Sullivan has professed to dislike so much have actually suited where his game is at right now and when he has found that inevitable spurt - that touch of genius that has always set him apart - he has been able to reel off frames so quickly and with such style and bravado that top-class operators like Ding and Williams were knocked off their feet and left unable to respond.
That was certainly the case with Williams on Tuesday. His long potting had been a marvel throughout the tournament - they don't call him the Welsh Potting Machine for nothing - but by the evening session his long game had deserted him and with it, his ability to hurt O'Sullivan was gone.
O'Sullivan's own long potting has arguably been a weak link in his game this season but he has looked razor sharp in that department. Instead, it has been a spate of unforced errors when in and around the black spot - almost unheard of 18 months ago - that has left O'Sullivan seething in his chair on regular occasions.
He can't afford to be as lapse against Mark Selby who, typically, looks to have peaked just in time for Sheffield, and in particular, the one-table set-up at the Crucible.
Selby loves it here and between 2014 and 2017 he was almost untouchable in this event, winning it three times in a period of dominance that drew inevitable comparisons with Stephen Hendry.
The wheels have fallen off ever so slightly off since but when he's been good, he's remained very, very good. He was imperious when thumping David Gilbert in the final of the English Open earlier this season and added the Scottish Open not long after.
Having looked out of sorts when struggling past Jordan Brown in the first round, Selby found some form when needing it most to see off the impressive Noppon Saengkham 13-12 before giving Neil Robertson a real schooling in the quarter-finals.
Selby made nine breaks of 50+ in that match, looking much-improved from distance, and left Robertson scratching his head on multiple occasions in the face of a safety-play masterclass. Selby has always had an almost peerless tactical game in his armoury but a lack of confidence had seen him prove less and less rock-solid in close frames than in years gone by.
There wasn't a bit of that against Robertson and while it might be sightly premature to say with confidence that he is completely back to his best, the signs are very promising.
Selby's record in the one-table set-up at the Crucible is quite remarkable: he has only lost once in five semi-finals appearances and has gone onto win the title on three occasions, most famously when coming from 10-5 behind to beat O'Sullivan in 2014.
I'm not sure O'Sullivan has ever quite forgotten that stinging defeat and there will surely be plenty of punters taking the 11/8 for Selby to repeat the dose. I was close to being one of them but I'm not yet fully convinced by this new dawn and can happily sit this one out.
Whatever your view, and whichever way your money is going, this truly is a match to saviour between two players who have enjoyed one of the great rivalries in the history of the game.
Who knows, this might even be the last time we see them lock horns at the Crucible. I, for one, intend to enjoy it.
The first semi-final between Kyren Wilson and Anthony McGill is likely to go under the radar somewhat but both deserve a huge amount of credit for what they have achieved already this year.
For McGill, his career had appeared in danger of fizzling out when dropping out of the top 16 but this is a former ranking-title winner who has always been tipped for big things.
There is nothing flashy about the Scot but what he does possess is a solid all-round game and wonderful temperament; perfect ingredients for the rigours of a World Championship.
McGill has certainly done it the hard way; coming through qualifying before edging out Jack Lisowski and Jamie Clarke in gripping final-frame deciders prior to beating Kurt Maflin in the quarter-finals.
Much is made about McGill's ability to scrap and fight but it shouldn't be forgotten that he made 10 breaks of 50+ against Maflin and I'm not sure he should be as big as 31/10 to continue his dream run.
Having made the semi-finals here in 2018 and therefore already had a taste of the one-table set-up, there is no doubting Wilson holds an early advantage while McGill's heavy workload and the potential for fatigue is in stark contrast to his opponent who was given a bye in the first round after Anthony Hamilton's late defection.
Nevertheless, McGill is showing no signs of slowing down yet; if anything he looks to be getting stronger and he will know that Wilson - who has made no secret about his ambition about becoming world champion - will have to carry a weight expectation in this match, from himself and everyone else.
Wilson played really well to beat Judd Trump in the last eight but the latter looked to run have run out of steam at the recent Tour Championship and that was no different here. He struggled for his best snooker throughout and Wilson might well find McGill an even tougher nut to crack.
Being the underdog has suited McGill well over the last 12 days, whereas Wilson has the added pressure of knowing he might never get a better chance of reaching a World Championship final. It makes for a fascinating encounter and I can't resist playing McGill at the prices.
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