Ronnie O'Sullivan beat Wu Yize 6-5 to reach the World Open final as he seeks his first ranking title in more than two years.
A day after registering a world record 153 break in a dominant 5-0 win over Ryan Day, O'Sullivan was made to work much harder by one of the brightest young talents in the game.
O'Sullivan led 2-0 and 3-1 but Wu pegged him back to all-square at 3-3, making it a best-of-five for a place in Sunday's title decider.
And it needed all five frames to separate them, Wu responding to O'Sullivan's breaks of 97 and 118 with runs of 86 and 77 to send a brilliant tussle the distance.
Wu looked like he would steal it when leading 43-0 in the decider but a brilliant 89 clearance saw O'Sullivan progress to face either Judd Trump or Thepchaiyah Un-Nooh in what seems sure to be a free-flowing final.
In it, O'Sullivan will seek his first win since the 2024 World Grand Prix, where he beat Trump to lift the trophy.
