Ronnie O'Sullivan booked his place in the final of the Betway UK Championship after seeing off a recovery from Stephen Maguire to record a 6-4 victory in York.
O'Sullivan, who finished as runner-up to Mark Selby at the Barbican Centre last year, had looked set for an early finish on Saturday afternoon when he moved into a 4-0 lead following three half-century breaks.
However, Scotsman Maguire, the world number 20, responded after the mid-session interval to get a frame on the board with a clearance of 91.
After O'Sullivan, who turned 42 earlier this week, had then put himself within touching distance of Sunday's final following a break of 111, Maguire rallied again to take the ninth frame with a run of 129.
O'Sullivan, though, made sure of a showdown against either Shaun Murphy or Welshman Ryan Day when wrapping up victory with another half-century break.
"Stephen is a quality player and I expected some kind of resistance," said O'Sullivan, who is a five-time winner of the UK Championship and now into his seventh final at the ranking event.
"I just tried to keep my patience and wait for the chance to pounce."
O'Sullivan added on www.worldsnooker.com: "I've got lucky that other players have struggled against me this week. I suppose to get to the final having not played my best is not a bad thing."
"I was listening to an interview with Mark Selby and he said he'd much rather play well and lose than play badly and win. I thought 'yeah, that's how I feel.'
"Me and Mark played last year in the final and even though I lost I still came off thinking 'I enjoyed that, it was a good workout.'
"This week I've really had to battle and I've just scrambled through."
