Ronnie O'Sullivan mounted a fightback to win the final four frames and beat John Higgins 6-5 to progress to the semi-finals of the Shanghai Masters along with world champion Luca Brecel.
Sullivan had won the last three of the tournaments between 2017 and 2019, but his fine run looked to be coming to an end when Higgins made two century breaks as he opened up a 5-2 lead.
However, after Higgins missed chances to close out victory in both the eighth and ninth frames, O’Sullivan soon reduced the deficit before going on to produce a break of 100 before clinching the match with a total clearance of 130.
"He should have put me away really. He had enough chances. He was 5-2 up and in control of the game, uncharacteristically for John he didn’t finish it off," O’Sullivan said on the World Snooker Tour website.
"I didn’t expect to do anything because I was really awful. I’ve been awful for about 18 months now and that is a long time to not find any form."
O’Sullivan will face Mark Selby in Friday’s semi-final.
"When you've got a nice crowd and a nice venue it forces you to dig in, you don’t really want to lose," O’Sullivan added.
"At this tournament you give it 100 per cent all of the way. I have a good record here and it would be nice to get to the final."
Brecel, meanwhile, ground out a 6-3 win over Robert Milkins and will take on Neil Robertson for a place in the final after the Australian beat China’s Fan Zhengyi 6-1, finishing off with a break of 107.
Selby booked his place in the last four with a 6-1 thrashing of Judd Trump.
