Ryan Day missed a memorable maximum 147 break at the Royal London Watches Grand Prix but still clinched a dramatic win to beat Ali Carter and book his place in this year's final.
The Welshman led 5-2, saw Carter bravely battle back to 5-5, before completing a nerve-racking 6-5 win at the Scottish Exhibition and Conference Centre.
He will now face John Higgins, a 6-4 winner over teenage qualifier Judd Trump earlier in the day, in Sunday's final.
However, in the second frame of the match, Day missed a pot on a yellow ball on a break of 120.
If he had made the maximum it would have been the 65th in professional snooker history - and also pocketed him £24,000 for the highest break prize.
‘Both of us cued fantastically well tonight. Ali was hitting the ball superb, as I was, but I probably pushed the boat out a little too much at 5-2 and threw him a lifeline,’ said Day, the world number eight.
‘When it went 5-5 I was just hoping to get a chance in the final frame - and thankfully I did.
‘I didn't feel I didn't do too much wrong from 5-2. At 5-5 you're very close to getting beat but I played really well.
‘The deciding frame is all about getting a chance and getting over the line.’
Carter, last season's World Championship runner-up, won the opening frame with a break of 107, before Day responded with runs of 120 and 62 to lead 2-1.
A break of 63 saw Carter level proceedings, but Day was the better player after the restart, breaks of 104 and 115 helped him establish a 5-2 advantage.
However, Carter bravely battled back to force a decider thanks to breaks of 84 and 107.
But it was his opponent, a two-time ranking event runner-up, who progressed to his third ranking final by winning the decider.
‘I had a couple of chances to win the match in the last frame, but maybe I went for one too many shots. But I was trying to win it, not avoid defeat,’ said Carter.
‘I might win a tournament one day. I keep getting to the business end, so someone's got to fall over one day.’
