Mark Allen’s bid to become the oldest first-time world champion in the modern era gathered momentum as he reached the semi-finals with a 13-11 victory over Barry Hawkins at the Crucible Theatre in Sheffield.
The 40-year-old Northern Irishman is aiming to complete snooker’s Triple Crown having previously triumphed in the UK Championship and Masters.
However, snooker’s biggest prize has so far eluded him in 19 previous attempts with his win over Hawkins earning him a place in the last four for only the third time.
Having resumed at 8-8, Allen took the opening two frames of Wednesday morning’s session only to be pegged back by the 2013 finalist, who knocked in breaks of 70 and 83 in response.
The players traded frames before Allen constructed his third century of a high-quality affair to move 12-11 ahead.
In a dramatic final frame Allen took control with a break of 59 and sealed his passage to the single-table stage after the Englishman underhit an attempted snooker on the pink just seconds after fluking a red to give himself the chance to force a decider.
Allen said he felt: “Relief more than anything.
“Barry scored really well, he had 12 breaks over 50 which is a ridiculous level and to come out on top shows where my game is as well.
“I thought the second session was one of the best I have ever been involved in, it was really high-quality snooker.
“My heart sank when he fluked that red – I’m over the moon to get over the line. If you could have seen inner Mark when he didn’t reach the pink, he was doing somersaults and then I potted a good yellow.
“I have won everything else, why can’t I win this? I am thinking about it because I come here every year thinking I can win it for the first time.”
Allen will now face either Wu Yize or Hossein Vafaei in a best-of-33 encounter that begins on Thursday at 19:00 BST.
Over on the other side of the arena Neil Robertson retained the two-frame advantage he held overnight after the first session on Wednesday and will take a 9-7 lead against John Higgins into the final session of their quarter-final at 19:00 BST.
After extending his lead to 6-3 by taking the first frame of the day, the Australian was forced to watch on as four-time champion Higgins knocked in a barrage of big breaks with runs of 51, 86 and 126 to draw level.
Robertson, whose only Crucible success arrived in 2010, crafted breaks of 60 and 95 on his way to reeling off the next three frames before Higgins countered with an 80 to set up an intriguing finale.