Stephen Maguire will play Mark Selby in Sunday's Welsh Open final after beating Ali Carter 6-4 in Llandudno.
Maguire, who has dropped to 49 in the world rankings, came through an intense and sometimes scrappy battle to reach his first ranking title final in five years.
World number 15 Carter led 3-2 with the aid of breaks of 118 and 54, but Maguire looked to be in control after taking the next three frames to go 5-3 ahead.
Maguire made scores of 85 and 57 to forge his lead and although Carter edged the ninth frame to cut the gap to 5-4 in a topsy-turvy contest, the Scot prevailed after sinking a decisive long red in the 10th frame.
Earlier on Saturday, Mark Selby reached the tournament final for the first time since 2012 as he reeled off four frames in a row to beat Luca Brecel 6-3, having trailed 3-2.
Brecel, who defeated Selby in the 2023 World Championship final, took a 15-minute medical timeout at the end of the first frame for an apparent migraine.
Selby had pounced on a loose break-off to compile a 131-break in the opener and although Brecel recovered to lead at the end of the fifth frame, four-time world champion Selby made further scores of 60, 67 and 74 as he cruised to victory.
The Belgian's defeat means he misses out on both the £150,000 BetVictor Bonus - Neil Robertson finished top of the BetVictor Series rankings - and a place in next month's World Grand Prix in Hong Kong.
