Shaun Murphy is one win away from a second World Championship after beating John Higgins 17-15 in an epic semi-final tussle.
In a best-of-33 contest, never was either player more than two frames ahead and it looked like fans inside the Crucible would be treated to the decider denouement it deserved.
But Higgins missed a delicate black when in command of frame 32 and while Murphy went on to rattle the jaws with the final red, he made no mistake when presented with a second, similar opportunity, left needing to clear the colours to the pink to win.
A mid-length yellow proved the final hurdle to clear and that he did, potting the others in regulation fashion to deny Higgins another world final appearance.
Twenty-one years to the day since Murphy won his sole World Championship to date as a big-priced qualifier, he now stands on the brink of a step into a higher echelon, that of multiple world champion.
Magician pulls rabbit out of a hat
Murphy had trailed 13-11 heading into Saturday but his advantage was wiped out very quickly by a free-flowing Murphy, who registered breaks of 132 and 127 to level the match.
Higgins responded tenaciously, restoring his advantage by taking the next two, but Murphy added another century followed by a frame-winning 78 to tie things up once more and turn best-of-33 into best-of-three.
Murphy dominated frame 31 to lead for the first time since the end of frame 17 and though Higgins will be left to rue the black which always looked too high, he was full of praise for the way Murphy took his chances towards the end of the match.
"I'm just disappointed the way I missed the final black, I didn't play it positively," Higgins told TNT Sports. "I was just trying to steer it in, that's no way to play a snooker shot.
"I thought Shaun was absolutely fantastic throughout the final session. Throughout the whole game he hit the ball like a dream. He came out today and hit me with two centuries, he was just too strong at the end so every credit to him.
"It was great to be back out there. It was a really, really good match. He really went for it and potted everything, so every credit to him. He was amazing at the end."
Murphy was in typically ebullient mood and said of Higgins: "What a player, what a guy, what a man. If I'm anything like that player when I'm in my 50s, I'll be very proud of myself."
Of the way the match unfolded, Murphy confessed that he was furious with his inability to capitalise on a 'tired' Higgins in the first session but took pride in the way he found a solution.
"I went back to the practise table," he said. "I knew there was a mental challenge, I was nervous. It means so much. But I found something on the practise table and I played a lot better after the first session."
Wu makes Allen pay for missed black
The second semi-final produced the most dramatic finish imaginable, with Mark Allen suffering heartbreak at the hands of Wu Yize and losing 17-16.
Allen had fought hard to haul himself back into the contest having lost the first session 6-2, and found himself on the cusp of the final when leading 16-15 and faced with an apparently straightforward final black to win the match.
However, in one of the most remarkable misses the Crucible has ever witnessed, Allen rattled the black into the jaws, handing Wu a lifeline he gratefully accepted.
Even in the decider, Allen was in first and built up a useful lead before breaking down, Wu again making him pay with a nerveless, match-winning break of 71.
Allen told World Snooker Tour: "It will take me a while to get over that black. You don't deserve to be in a world final if you miss balls like that.
"It was just pure pressure, usually I am pretty good under pressure but I didn't handle it today. I had two or three good chances to win and didn't do it.
"I felt fine in the last frame and thought I was a bit unlucky when I potted the pink and didn't land on anything.
"Wu played really well, all credit to him. I am devastated to lose but I think the right person is in the final."