Chinese prodigy Ding Junhui kept his concentration to eliminate Stephen Lee in a marathon quarter-final battle at the SAGA Insurance Masters early.
The talented teenager was pegged back by Lee as their clash lasted nearly three hours.
But having started slowly and slipped 2-1 behind, the 19-year-old found his flowing form and was eventually a comfortable 6-2 winner at Wembley Arena.
'At the very beginning of the match I was very frustrated, but from the third frame I started to play attractive snooker,' said Ding.
Asked whether the biggest pay-day of his career - should he win the competition - would mean more to him than the title itself, he simply replied: 'No, the title is more important to me.'
Ding has already won three ranking event titles and two more wins would secure his fourth major crown - although the Masters does not having ranking status, it is snooker's richest invitational event.
The Shanghai star nearly topped his victory with another maximum 147 break, but having potted 14 reds of a possible 15 in the fourth frame, he missed the penultimate black he needed to keep the run going.
A bad bounce off the top cushion saw Ding run out of position on the black and, cueing slightly awkwardly, the world number 27 missed the chance to rewrite the record books again.
Earlier this week he pocketed a memorable maximum, only the second ever witnessed at the Masters, in a 6-3 wildcard round victory over Anthony Hamilton.
And if it is not bettered Ding will win £35,000 in additional prize-money to the £32,000 he is guaranteed for reaching this year's semis.
'It's a very big year for me and I'm happy with the way I'm playing,' added Ding, who sunk breaks of 105, 76, 98 and 80 to book his place in the last four of this year's £432,000 tournament.
Lee, who knocked out world champion Graeme Dott in his opening match, failed to find any rhythm and mustered a high break of 31.
He admitted afterwards: 'I played like I'd been out on the beer all night. I wish I had had done now. I had a shot on the black ball in one frame and kept seeing spots appear in front of it. I just tried to hit it, I just couldn't pot a ball.
'I had to try and stay with him, but I didn't. He got better and better and ran away at the end of it. I played awfully.'
