Graeme Dott moved a step closer to a first ranking title since 2007 as he beat Tom Ford 6-4 in their World Grand Prix semi-final.
The former world champion beat Ronnie O’Sullivan on Thursday to continue an excellent run of form, and he backed that up by finding an extra gear when needed here.
Ford’s bid for a first ranking title of his own looked to be going to plan when breaks of 91 and 89 earned him a 4-3 lead, but Dott won the next three frames for the concession of just 29 points.
First he levelled the scores, then he fired in the only century of the match, a break of 103 to move within one of the final.
Dott completed the job with the minimum of fuss and will face either Neil Robertson or Kyren Wilson on Sunday.
"Tonight’s win feels better than beating Ronnie," said three-time Crucible finalist Dott. "When I beat Ronnie I had my game, whereas tonight I was struggling, I was losing the white constantly.
"It was good to show some bottle and stand up because I could have crumbled at 4-3."
Robertson is the hottest player in the sport at the moment as he stands within one win of his third successive final.
Wilson though has come through two tough matches against Judd Trump and John Higgins, and whoever wins Saturday’s second semi-final will start favourite to see off Dott.
Not that they should expect an easy ride against a player enjoying a renaissance this year and, at 43, close to his most significant silverware since conquering the world in 2006.
