Martin Adams regained his composure to resist a superb Mervyn King fightback and reach his second Lakeside World Championship final in Frimley Green today.
The 50-year-old England captain scraped through 6-5 after being in complete control at 5-2 up before his opponent - who has enjoyed a stormy tournament - battled back brilliantly.
When King took the match to a deciding set it looked like being another dramatic collapse by Adams, who threw away the Winmau World Masters final last October from a similarly strong position.
But this time 'Wolfie' kept his nerve and took advantage as King seemed to relax having done the hard work, the Peterborough player winning the last set without dropping a leg.
After a close start to the contest, which King led 2-1, Adams capitalised on the 40-year-old hitting double 10 instead of double six to move 3-2 ahead just before the interval.
The break appeared to adversely affect King and when Adams recovered from two legs down to go 5-2 up thanks to an almost perfect 10-darter, it looked all over.
However, King, who hit back from 3-0 down to beat Tony Eccles in his quarter-final, was not in the mood to lie down and piled the pressure on Adams to try to exploit his weakness under pressure.
It did not work though, as the 40-year-old's standard dropped when he was back on level terms and Adams ultimately closed it out comfortably as he hit the decisive double five.
Adams, who lost 6-2 to Raymond van Barneveld on his previous appearance in the final two years ago, joked that he had won so narrowly for ‘entertainment value’.
He then added: 'I would have been happier to win in straight sets. But I wasn't worried when it went to 5-5.
"I've played tie-breakers with Mervyn before so it was nothing new. I fully expected him to make a big comeback and I thought 'whatever happens, happens'.
'I want to win this title in my 50th year and I'm in the final so I've got an opportunity.'
King, from Great Yarmouth, has had an eventful time at Frimley Green, reacting angrily to speculation linking him with the rival Professional Darts Corporation (PDC) and suggesting on Thursday that he may not turn up for the match because of the continual talk about his future.
He offered only a terse 'no comment...unbelievable' today when questioned again about a possible switch to the PDC.
King also feels he was unlucky to be knocked out after playing much of the best darts.
'I shouldn't have had to make a comeback,' said the former two-time World Championship runner-up. "I should have been 4-1 up and Martin knows that - I told him at the interval he was one lucky puppy and he said 'I know'.
'It should have been my match. I missed a couple of crucial doubles to win sets and he took full advantage. Maybe it wasn't meant to be.
'Fair play to Martin. He's a great friend of mine and was best man at my wedding. I'll be here tomorrow supporting him in the final.'
Tomorrow's final will be contested by two 50-year-old Englishmen as Phil Nixon's dream run continued with a 6-4 victory over the last remaining Dutchman, Niels de Ruiter.
It means the two oldest players among the 32 that began the tournament will battle it out for the £70,000 first prize.
Nixon, a house-husband and father of eight from Durham, started as a 150-1 rank outsider, having qualified for the first time in 20 years of trying.
He has beaten four seeds to reach the final although, for the second consecutive match, Nixon found it difficult to get over the winning line as he allowed De Ruiter to recover from 5-1 down to 5-4.
Doubles were again his problem, Nixon missing eight darts to win the match, but there was nothing wrong with the 121 checkout that wrapped it up via the route of treble 20, 25 and double 18.
