Ken Doherty produced another remarkable comeback to revive his hopes of capturing a second Embassy World Championship crown against favourite Mark Williams at The Crucible.
Doherty looked out of it as Williams resumed this afternoon holding an 11-5 lead in the best-of-35 frames contest after being made 40-1 on by bookmakers to take the title.
But for the past fortnight, Doherty has made a habit of manufacturing great escapes from seemingly hopeless positions.
And, in an incredible turnaround in fortunes, the Irishman won the first six frames of the third session to draw level.
The last two of the session were shared to leave matters all-square at 12-12 and now the match has effectively become an 11-frame shoot-out tonight.
Few on the snooker circuit are made of stronger resolve than Doherty, and in this tournament he has been taken to a final frame decider on three occasions.
He defeated Shaun Murphy 10-9 in the first round, overcame Graeme Dott 13-12 after trailing 7-2 and then overturning a 15-9 reversal in the semi-finals to dispose of Paul Hunter.
Doherty went into the final having played 98 frames compared to the 72 of Williams, and there were fears that the fatigue factor would take its toll.
But the 33-year-old, who at one stage trailed 10-2, dug in and slowly, but surely clawed his way back into contention as Williams brilliant form deserted him.
It was vital that Doherty made early inroads into Williams' lead if he was to have a realistic chance of adding to his own 1997 world triumph - and that is what materialised.
The Dubliner made Williams pay in the first frame of the day for failing to convert a long red into the yellow pocket with a run of 52 proving decisive.
Williams was first among the balls in frame 18 with a 28, but Doherty edged in front and left his opponent needing three snookers - and he conceded after leaving an easy opportunity.
The Welshman was off colour for just about the first time in the past fortnight and a missed red into the middle pocket in the next proved costly.
Doherty took the opportunity to quickly split the pack as the launchpad for a magnificent 128 clearance to bring up the half century of Crucible tons in 2003.
Then Doherty made it a pre-interval whitewash in frame 20 with Williams again missing a straightforward chance - a red into the black pocket.
Doherty's 34 was enough to leave Williams needing snookers for the second time and once again he gave up after one half-hearted attempt.
The same trend continued after the break in frame 21 despite Williams opening up a 45-1 lead.
A 43 and clearing the final brown, blue and pink saw Docherty home in the longest frame of the match at 36 minutes.
Amazingly Doherty got back on level terms at 11-11, a run of 40 putting him in control, before Williams broke his dismal sequence in the next.
Doherty went in-off with the white and a relieve Williams cleared the colours to the black to nose ahead.
But Doherty stormed back once again and a 115 clearance in the last frame of the session levelled matters again.