Paul Hunter secured by far the biggest pay day of his career and moved within one victory of the Benson and Hedges Masters title when he shocked Stephen Hendry in today's semi-final at Wembley Conference Centre.
The 22-year-old from Leeds guaranteed himself a minimum Stg£88,000 and will now start as favourite when he faces either Dave Harold or Fergal O'Brien in tomorrow's best-of-19 frame final.
"I've beaten the defending champion already - and someone who's won here six times before - so of course I think I can win," said world number 14 Hunter.
After playing fluently under pressure and enjoying a timely slice of good fortune en route to completing his 6-4 victory over Hendry, he added: "I thought I would be a lot more nervous than I was towards the end.
"In fact, I was quite relaxed. I cued well right from the start, and a few big breaks let Stephen know that I was feeling confident. It's a fantastic result for me, and now I can't wait for tomorrow."
Hunter, who edged out title-holder Matthew Stevens 6-5 in the last 16, followed up by getting the better of Peter Ebdon, was the first to admit fortune had helped push him over the winning line today.
Leading 5-4 and with frame 10 very much in the balance, Hunter fluked the green to a middle pocket at an acute angle and somehow managed to obtain position on the brown.
He potted that conventionally before slotting in the blue and pink to clear up and deny seven-time world champion Hendry the chance to lift Masters trophy number seven too.
Hendry refused to blame bad luck, though.
He said: "Losing to a green like that wasn't nice. But the fact of the matter is that I missed far too many pots from distance.
"Paul was the better of the two players today, but if I'd potted a quarter of the long balls I should have I'd have won."
Hendry, who silenced the Wembley crowd by beating local favourite Jimmy White 6-4 in the quarter-finals yesterday, added: "It's disappointing to lose any match anywhere, and this is no exception.
"I hate losing and I always will'.
Hunter compiled breaks of 101 and 99 on the way to building a 4-3 lead.
From 4-4 he put together controlled runs of 60 and 65 to regain the advantage and, assisted by undoubtedly the most valuable fluke of his career, he then swelled the list of upsets that this year's Masters has produced.
PA