Neil Robertson will play Mark Allen in Sunday's 2015 188BET Champion of Champions Final at Ricoh Arena, writes Ziad Chaudry.
In the first semi-final on Saturday afternoon, Robertson, the world number 3 from Australia beat his good friend from Cambridgeshire ‘The Gentleman’ Joe Perry by 6 frames to 4.
‘The Melbourne Machine’ went into the interval 3-1 up after producing a brilliant 144 break, the highest in this year’s tournament.
But Perry slowly clawed his way back and eventually managed to level it at 4-all after breaks of 61 and 51.
Robertson has missed out on the final since in each of the previous two years but made it third time lucky as an 81 break rubber-stamped his place in today's final.
“It was always going to be tough today playing Joe as we are such good friends and see each other every day at the club,” said Robertson.
“We were either both going to play well or both be a bit cautious and nervy and that is how it was in the first couple of frames. The match never really fully broke away from that so it was hard going at times. Also, in bits and pieces, I played really, really well.
“It is my first major final since the Masters and that defeat hurt a lot, so I will be really determined to make amends for that.”
The in-form Mark Allan goes into his second final within a space of days after his 6 frames to 3 triumph over Kyren Wilson.
The 29-year-old from Antrim, who last week European Tour’s Bulgarian Open, looked set for an early night at The Ricoh with a commanding 4-1 lead and was only two frames away from reaching his first ever final.
But Wilson, 23, from Kettering who on Tuesday surprised tournament favourite Judd Trump, reduced arrears to just one after claiming frame seven by 100-0.
However Allan, known on the table as ‘The Pistol’ claimed the two frames he needed which included a match winning 88 break.
“At 4-3 up, that was a frame that I needed,” said Allen. “At the time Kyren was really dominating and I had a bit of misfortune when I was 4-1 up and could have gone 5-1 and from then on Kyren dominated. His long potting was very good, his safety was very good, he didn’t miss anything and I went 45 minutes without potting a ball.
“I was ready for my chance when it came but that scrappy game came at a perfect time for me. I didn’t want a re-rack because I wanted to get Kyren out of his rhythm a bit and get myself a bit more table time. It came at a perfect time for me and that frame changed the whole match.
“I played good. I didn’t make any massive breaks and it might not look pretty on paper but I didn’t do a lot wrong. I am very happy with the way I played; it wasn’t spectacular but it was very solid.
“I did an interview last week and I was asked what I thought about Neil. I said, in my opinion, he is the best all-round player in the world. He is a great long potter, very good safety player and he scores very well also. He has a great temperament in the big matches so it is going to be tough tomorrow but I am in the final, I am playing well and if I can concentrate on my game then I think I have a good chance.
“I will have an early night now, go back and watch a few DVDs or things on the laptop, maybe ‘24’ again for about the 20th time. I will get up early, have a bit of breakfast and a bit of practice before we start then off we go.”
Today’s best of 19 frames final where the 2015 188BET Champion of Champions will pick up a cool £100,000 will be played over two sessions at 1pm and 7pm.
Tickets are available on the day, otherwise catch all the action on ITV4 from 12.45pm.