John Higgins set himself on course to join the all-time greats as a three-time Crucible winner as he surged ahead of Shaun Murphy in the Betfred.com World Championship final.
Needing 18 frames for victory, Wishaw cueman Higgins won seven out of eight frames to establish an overnight lead of 11-5.
No player has come back from 11-5 in the final to be world champion in Sheffield, so Murphy must make history on Monday if he is to add to his 2005 title.
Higgins, the champion of 1998 and 2007, stepped up his performance in the second session of the final and Murphy could produce little by way of a response.
Higgins fired in two breaks of 128, the 82nd and 83rd centuries of a tournament in which the previous World Championship record of 68 has been obliterated.
He had gone to the mid-session interval on the back of a break of 95, and it was an ominous sign.
The sudden injection of quality was welcome as the afternoon action had suggested both players were exhausted by their efforts to reach the final.
The pair were tied at 4-4 and at that stage the close contest which had been widely predicted looked to be materialising.
But that was all to change over a remarkable two-and-a-half hours of evening action.
With the trophy, and a £250,000 cheque, now just seven frames away, if Higgins produces a repeat of this evening's session when they resume tomorrow afternoon then there will be no need to come back in the evening.
Scottish cueman Higgins has 19 career ranking titles to his name and another trophy tomorrow would see him join Ronnie O'Sullivan and John Spencer on three world titles, with only Stephen Hendry, Steve Davis and Ray Reardon more successful in the open era, which began in 1969.
Higgins would also be the oldest Crucible champion since Dennis Taylor in 1985 triumphed at the age of 36. He turns 34 on 18 May.
Murphy knew victory would make him the fifth player in the history of the game to win the double of UK Championship and World Championship in the same season, after Steve Davis, Stephen Hendry, Ronnie O'Sullivan and Mark Williams.
But unless he starts brilliantly tomorrow that chance will fall by the wayside.
