John Higgins beat Mark Selby in a remarkable final of the Tour Championship, eventually prevailing 10-8 having at one stage trailed 8-5.
It was a final that will live long in the memory, and will surely rank as one of the best matches of this season, Higgins coming out on top at the end of a day in which the balance of power changed hands on several occasions.
Selby started as warm favourite, owing to his outstanding recent record in finals, including when beating Higgins 10-5 in the British Open earlier in the season, and he had one hand on the trophy when leading 8-5 following a devastating burst which had seen him reel off seven frames on the bounce.
By this point, Selby had chalked up four centuries, leaving Higgins bereft of answers and reduced to a spectator, a far cry from the beginning of the match when the Scot had been the one making the early running.
In fact, Higgins had put together two centuries of his own as he surged 5-1 in front, but Selby refused to back down and ended the afternoon session with back-to-back hundred breaks to finally get a foothold in the match.
Nevertheless, resuming with a 5-3 advantage, Higgins was still in the box seat, only for Selby to relentlessly turn the screw, firstly levelling the scores and then winning frames 11, 12 and 13 with three more breaks of over fifty.
But just as the match appeared to have taken its final turn, Higgins somehow dragged himself from the canvas, feeding off a rare miss from distance from Selby to register his third ton of the day and keep himself afloat.
From there, the match turned on its head again. A remarkable fluke paved the way for a further break of 67 from Higgins which reduced his arrears to 8-7, and he was then able to dominate the following frame. 8-8.
Tables turned and by now it was Selby who was feeling the heat, a rare sight as he produced a number of uncharacteristically poor safety shots, perhaps rocked as Higgins enjoyed more good fortune with the run of the ball.
When Higgins calmly peeled off another run of 80, he was one away, but it took a brilliant pot to the centre pocket in frame 18 to push the door wide open.
After the split into the pack from the blue went wrong, Higgins was left with an all-or-nothing red, but he pumped it into the heart of the pocket before finishing in style, clearing the table for a magnificent total clearance of 132 that proved a fitting end to a most memorable final.
Higgins told World Snooker Tour: "It is my best ever win. I was playing an unbelievable champion and he was looking like he was not going to miss, he was tying me up in knots. To do that against Mark gives me incredible belief that I can still mix it with the best players.
"Mark shut me out up to 8-5. I was trying to stay positive but that's very difficult because you are banging your head against a brick wall sometimes. Usually he would just pull away and win 10-5.
"When I made the break to go 8-6 it was beginning to change, little things went in my favour and you need that against Mark. The World Championship is a different animal. I will just enjoy the next two weeks and then go to Sheffield and give it my all. I am very proud."