Shaun Murphy moved into the semi-finals of the Tour Championship with a 10-8 victory over Robert Milkins in Hull.
Murphy, 40, sealed the win with a break of 128 in the 18th frame to set up a match with either fellow Englishman Mark Selby or Wales’ Ryan Day.
Milkins had led 5-1, but Murphy recovered superbly to take nine of the next 12 frames to advance.
“At 5-1 it was looking really bad and if I’d gone 6-2 or 7-1 down it would’ve been over,” Murphy told ITV Sport.
“I think it [the last frame] was the first frame where I won it in one visit.
“This afternoon was not the performance I wanted but I was only a couple of pots away from playing nicely so I stuck to my guns.
“A few years ago that was the type of match I would never have won, but that’s changed and I have a ‘B’ and a ‘C’ game and there was some nice play in there.”
Milkins, 16th in the world, said: “I just played terrible tonight, long distance I didn’t have a clue.”
Selby faces Day on Thursday, Ding Junhui meets Kyren Wilson in the other semi-final on Friday, before Murphy plays in his semi-final on Saturday, with the final on Sunday.
The eight participants in this event were determined by the points won in ranking tournaments in this season’s events prior to the Tour Championship.
The winner will pick up a first prize of £150,000 out of a total prize fund of £380,000.
Murphy, world champion in 2005 and sixth in the rankings, has continued his good form after winning the Players’ Championship ranking event last month.
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