Just a week after losing his first ranking final of the season to Joe Perry, Judd Trump will get another shot at silverware after beating Shaun Murphy 6-2 in the Turkish Masters.
Trump has been critical of his game throughout the inaugural edition of the event and there were chinks in his armour here, but Murphy was unable to take advantage and succumbed to a heavy defeat.
It means Trump is through to back-to-back ranking finals, this being the 35th of his career, and he'll face close friend Matthew Selt for the title after the latter edged past Ding Junhui.
Breaks of 99 and 91 gave Murphy a 2-1 lead but after a poor mistake on the black he lost the next two frames, and Trump's stranglehold tightened when he edged 4-2 and then 5-2 clear by taking frames which so easily could have gone against him.
Trump finished on the front foot with breaks of 50 and 81 but was far from his best, and will hope he's saved that til last as he enters another Sunday as odds-on favourite to win.
"It was very cool to be out there in the one-table set up," said Trump. "There was a big crowd and a special atmosphere. It’s exciting to get to the final of an event in a new territory. I missed a lot of balls tonight and I am nowhere near my best but throughout the tournament I have been making important clearances. Shaun started well and he was 2-1 up when he missed a black, I pinched that frame otherwise I could have been 3-1 down.
"Getting to finals is good but it’s never nice being stood clapping your opponent at the end. When I got here I was super tired and mentally it was very draining. I can take an immense sense of pride from getting to the final again. This season hasn’t gone well and I knew I needed to dig in over the last two events to get into the Tour Championship.
"I had some shocking performances early this week but managed to survive. My will to win is second to none, I had to give it absolutely everything to get through those games.
"Two of the closest people on the tour to me are Matt Selt and Oli Lines and we could have all been in the semi-finals. It’s an amazing win for Matt to beat Ding in the semi-finals of such a big occasion. This season he has mental strength and belief, he’s a whole different character. It’s going to be a very tough game but I’m happy to be playing one of my close friends."
Selt edges Ding in decider
Selt had earlier remained on course to double his tally of ranking titles after a 6-5 victory over Ding.
In the 27th match this week to go to a deciding frame, Selt kept his nerve in the closing moments to upset three-time UK champion Ding, who was looking to get back to winning ways having taken the last of his 14 ranking titles three years ago.
Selt and Ding were watched by the biggest crowd of the week so far at the Nirvana Cosmopolitan Hotel and Selt held firm to reach just the second ranking final of his career, having won the previous one in India.
Sunday’s best-of-19 final in Antalya will be the biggest match of his life as he takes on Trump. The world number 31 is already guaranteed £45,000 but victory would bring a career-high payday of £100,000, double the prize for his sole major title so far.
Victory would lift him into the top eight of the one year ranking list and almost certainly give him a place in the Cazoo Tour Championship later this month, and also bring him into contention for a place among the top 16 seeds at the Crucible.
The opening frame came down to the last red and Selt laid a clever snooker to set up the chance to take the lead. Breaks of 40 and 33 helped him double his advantage, then in the third, Ding cleared the colours to force a re-spotted black, but played a loose safety as Selt clipped in a long pot for 3-0.
Ding’s fightback started with breaks of 97 and 60 to reduce his deficit to 3-2, before Selt missed chances in frame six and a 90 clearance from Ding levelled the tie. Selt bounced back from losing the seventh by taking the next two, but Ding again responded with a superb 84 to take the match all the way.
In the decider, Selt led 33-10 when he missed the black off its spot, trying to split the pack, and was fortunate to leave Ding snookered. Selt later potted an excellent long red and trickled up behind the yellow, and from the chance that followed he added the points he needed.
"It’s a pleasure to beat Ding in such a close match in a major semi-final," said Selt, who had reached just one ranking quarter-final all season prior to this week. "At 3-0 I let him back into it with a few mistakes. At 4-3 down it wasn’t looking good, I just wanted to book a flight and go home. But I stuck in there and managed to get over the line.
"I felt good in the last frame. In the end I had a tricky blue to win the match and I was so pleased to see it go in."
As for Sunday's final, Selt was relishing the prospect of taking on a world champion.
"Shaun and Judd are the type of people I want to be playing in finals. I have never played a best-of-19 final before. Anthony Hamilton told me that ranking event wins don’t count unless you have slept the night before, so if I win this one then hopefully Anthony will credit me with one ranking victory!"