John Higgins exorcised a few snooker demons on his way to booking a place in the Rileys Club Masters final with a 6-3 victory over Peter Ebdon at Wembley today.
Higgins, who won the game's premier invitation event six years ago, came into the tournament on the back of a frustrating exit from the Malta Cup earlier this month.
The world number five was beaten 6-5 by Graeme Dott in the semi-finals of the Mediterranean event after holding a 5-2 lead.
And Higgins admitted his thoughts were filled by this frustrating defeat as he neared the winning line against Ebdon.
He said: "I thought I was going to let it slip again because I was missing some important balls and giving Peter chances.
"What happened in Malta came back into my mind and put me under pressure.
"You rarely see great semi-finals because there's so much riding on the match.
"I needed a few chances but I'm delighted to get through to the final and pleased to be back playing to a decent standard."
Higgins compiled breaks of 67 and 69 to lead 2-0 and was looking good to increase his lead when in on 62 in the third frame.
But the 29-year-old Scot missed a black and Ebdon produced a tremendous clearance, which included an outrageously difficult pink from the penultimate red.
After Higgins won the fourth frame, Ebdon captured the fifth with a run of 96 to close to 3-2 but lost a painfully scrappy 40-minute sixth to go two behind again.
Higgins fluked a red midway through the seventh but missed the frame ball redbefore finally taking a 5-2 lead.
Ebdon, the eighth seed, turned the screw with a run of 79 to close to 5-3 and the 34-year-old Englishman had several chances in the ninth.
But Higgins finally battled over the line in five scoring visits to set up a final day showdown with Ronnie O'Sullivan or Jimmy White, who were contesting Saturday's other semi-final.
It left Ebdon, who defends his Irish Masters title in Dublin next month, rueing a missed opportunity.
He said: "John is one of the best match-players the game has ever seen and he didn't allow me to play.
"It's disappointing not to reach the final but John potted a lot of long balls and scored well when he got in.
"He was too solid and outplayed me in the safety department."
Ebdon's sole consolation was the knowledge he had played the shot of the tournament in potting the difficult pink in the third frame.
He said: "It was an incredible shot and led to probably the best clearance of my career. I just would have liked a few more chances."
