Ronnie O'Sullivan came through a terrific quarter-final tussle with Mark Williams at the Tour Championship, eventually prevailing 10-9 in Llandudno.
O'Sullivan looked razor sharp throughout but despite making five century breaks in a dazzling display, he was made to sweat by his longtime rival who snapped at his opponent's heels all day and clearly fancied the job when levelling at 8-8 and then again at 9-9.
In the end, O'Sullivan just had too many guns, producing a timely and typically flawless 127 to move into a 9-8 lead, before edging the deciding frame to seal a hard-fought victory that sets up a semi-final meeting with defending champion Neil Robertson.
The afternoon session certainly lived up to the pre-match hype as O'Sullivan made much of the early running, putting together breaks of 56, 84 and 131 to win three of the opening four frames, and then clearing the table for a fabulous 128 in the sixth frame to move two frames clear.
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The Rocket produces the highest break of the tournament so far to gain a 3-1 advantage at the interval.
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Williams crucially won the following frame with a nerveless steal of 92 after O'Sullivan had drawn first blood, but the Rocket won the eighth frame to keep the Welshman at arms length.
That appeared to be the story of the evening session until Williams finally found himself on the front foot when winning four out of six frames after the mid-session interval to twice draw level and set up a grandstand finish.
Williams was in first in the decider and built a useful lead without being able to make it any more than that, before O'Sullivan was unable to put together the type of clearance under pressure that has been a trademark of his career.
After both players spurned chances in a nervy passage of play on the final red, it was Williams who blinked first, missing from mid-range and allowing O'Sullivan to calmly clear the colours and set up Friday showdown with Robertson that will be a repeat of the 2019 final in Llandudno.
O'Sullivan told ITV afterwards: "My scoring was alright but I didn't think I was going to get a chance in the last frame. Just pleased I got a chance and made it a bit close.
"I just couldn't pot a long ball the whole match and if you can't pot long balls it's hard to get in, especially against people who are good like Mark – they don't give you easy chances.
"Every chance I did get, I scored. That was the only way I was going to win really: keep it tight and tidy when I was in the balls and score."
