World Snooker Championship final
John Higgins made his fourth world snooker final after a 17-13 win over Mark Allen who had threatened one of the greatest Crucible comebacks.
And he will face Shaun Murphy after the 2005 champion held his nerve to see off a comeback by Neil Robertson.
Two-time winner Higgins knew he would have to be on his guard against the 23-year-old Allen and led 3-2 after a largely cautious first five frames.
But from then, Higgins took full control of the semi final, winning eight consecutive frames and 11 of the next 13.
It was a run which included three centuries, as he returned to the form which saw him win the world title in 1998 and 2007.
At this point, Allen was 13-3 down and the match threatened to be over with a session to spare.
But Allen showed his fighting qualities and went on a run himself.
He won nine of the next eleven frames, including a break of 106, to haul himself back in the contest at 15-12.
Higgins responded with a break of 116 to extend his lead again to four frames.
And after Allen gave a final act of defiance by winning frame 29, Higgins got over the line in frame 30 with a cool 60 break.
World number five Higgins goes into the final as favourite and his eight centuries in the last two weeks are a testament to that tag.
But the Wizard of Wishaw's supporters may be a little concerned at the errors which crept into his game when perhaps he thought he had already made it.
Higgins has also featured in the only two final-frame deciders, beating Jamie Cope and Mark Selby 13-12 in the 2nd round and the quarter finals.
Not that Allen was ever likely to make it easy.
The Antrim youngster has been a delight to watch, bringing great entertainment to this tournament.
His fast play around the table, amply demonstrated when he went toe-to-toe and beat defending champ Ronnie O'Sullivan, has won him many admirers.
I will certainly look forward to seeing him in the latter stages of another tournament in future seasons.
In the other semi final, Shaun Murphy dominated in his match against Neil Robertson.
Murphy was never behind during the tie and started each of the first three sessions as much the better of the two players.
But tenacious Aussie Robertson fought back strongly each time to give himself a fighting chance in the evening session.
The opening session was shared at 4-4, although Murphy will have thought he should have enjoyed an early lead after being 2-0 and 4-2 ahead, and recording the session's high break of 88.
Murphy started to take control of the match by winning five of the next six frames to lead 9-5, including a steal in frame 10 when he came from 25 points down to win on a re-spotted black.
But Robertson took the final two frames of the session to remain only two behind going into Saturday morning.
Murphy exerted further pressure at this point, though.
He took the next five frames to lead 14-7, though he recorded only two breaks over 50 in a match which, remarkably, up to this point was without a century.
But Robertson changed that with a break of 101 in frame 24 to win his third frame in a row to close the gap back to four behind.
When the players resumed on Saturday evening, Robertson extended his run to seven consecutive frames to level a remarkable match at 14-14.
But a break of 106 by Murphy turned the match in his favour again and he won the last three frames for a 17-14 victory.
Murphy's appearance in the Crucible final will certainly be a satisfying end to a helter-skelter last two weeks on and off the table.
He started the tournament in poor form and only just managed to scrape past Andrew Higginson 10-8 in the opening round.
Murphy complained about having cold and the cloud of his wife presenting him with divorce papers at the tournament seemed to hang over him.
But he returned to form with a convincing 13-3 victory over Marco Fu before falling behind to Stephen Hendry as he hit the ninth Crucible 147 break.
Murphy kept his cool, though, and won eight of the next ten frames - including his own break of 137 - to set up victory over the seven-time winner.
Route to the final
John Higgins:
1st round bt Michael Holt 10-5
2nd round bt Jamie Cope 13-12
Quarter finals bt Mark Selby 13-12
Semi finals bt Mark Allen 17-13
Shaun Murphy:
1st round bt Andrew Higginson 10-8
2nd round bt Marco Fu 13-3
Quarter finals bt Stephen Hendry 13-11
Semi finals bt Neil Robertson 17-14
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