Snooker/Irish Masters: Matthew Stevens's inability to live up to his enormous potential has been partly down to a poor record in tight finishes, but he survived his second in three days last night to reach the final of the Fáilte Ireland Irish Masters at Citywest.
The 27-year-old Welshman, who came from 5-3 down to beat Stephen Hendry 6-5 on Wednesday, followed that by recovering from a deficit of 8-5 to see off Robert Milkins 9-8. He will play Ronnie O'Sullivan or Mark Williams tomorrow for the title.
This was the first ranking tournament semi-final of Milkins's career, but even the loss of the opening frame did not unsettle him.
He opened the second with a 49 break and later got back in to take it on the pink, then ran 51 to secure the next and lead 2-1.
Milkins only potted one ball in frame four as Stevens levelled the match, but his response was to take the fifth on a respotted black after his opponent had left it over a pocket, and another break of 51 stretched that lead to 4-2.
Stevens had failed to find any rhythm up to that stage, but when he put together breaks of 70 and 56 to take the last two of the afternoon, he had managed to escape from a difficult session all square at 4-4.
It appeared at that stage that Stevens, winner of last season's Travis Perkins UK Championship, would capitalise on his huge advantage of experience to press ahead in the evening.
However, it was Milkins who looked more comfortable with the significance of the occasion, as breaks of 77 and 62 helped him sweep into a 7-4 lead.
From there, Milkins advanced to 8-5, and he was well placed to close out the match two frames later until he missed a long red to a baulk pocket.
Stevens later got back in with a courageous pot, launching the 42 clearance that won him that frame on the black.
For the first time in the match, Milkins appeared to be feeling the pressure, as he became more cautious and started to miss routine shots.
Stevens pounced to win the 16th frame, and after a tense start to the decider, got in to make a 51, which took him through.
"I looked dead and buried at 8-6 down," said the world number six.
"Robert took on a long red and if he'd potted it I'd have been shaking his hand. After that I put a bit of pressure on and he started to miss a few."
