Neil Robertson is on course for his second ranking title in three weeks after fending off Kyren Wilson's fightback to win 6-4.
Since losing 6-5 to Stephen Maguire in the first round of The Masters, a match in which he held a 5-1 lead, Robertson has been snooker's hottest property and that has continued in Cheltenham this week.
After winning the European Masters final 9-0, it took a top-notch Judd Trump performance to stop him doubling up in Germany a week later, and Graeme Dott will surely require something similar if he's to triumph when the pair meet on Sunday.
Wilson did well to make a game of it, effectively losing the match over the first three frames, all of which went the way of the Australian. In the end, that proved the difference in a semi-final played in an excellent spirit between two players in excellent form.
Robertson was quickly in command on Saturday evening, and when he pinched the fifth frame the lead was a convincing one at 4-1.
Wilson took the next two frames, latterly with a frenzy of tricky pots for a century break, and Robertson would have been forgiven for recalling that fateful night at Alexandra Palace when Maguire pulled off a remarkable comeback.
But when Wilson missed a thin cut to the bottom-left bag in frame eight, Robertson took his opportunity to stem the tide and that was key, as his younger opponent worked hard to take another match the distance as he had in each of the previous two rounds.
By now there was nothing in it, both players comfortable among the balls, and Wilson veritably waltzed around the 72 square feet of baize for an 84 break which ought to have been a second century in three frames.
Robertson potted a fine, long red with his very next shot, but missed brown with the rest to present Wilson with a straightforward opener and a real chance to force a deciding frame. But when the key shot came, a powerful black from which he sent the cue ball into the cluster of reds, Wilson's luck ran out and he was forced to play safe.
His lead only 28 points, Wilson then paid the ultimate price for a risky red to the left-centre, leaving it over the pocket for an opponent whose confidence is soaring, a fact he demonstrated soon after with a brilliant plant which left the frame and match at his mercy.
Robertson picked off a ruthless break of 68 to come through a real battle. Whether it has left any mark come Sunday might go some way to determining the outcome of a final he's odds-on to win.
