Ali Carter continued his dream run at the Masters with a 6-3 defeat of Shaun Murphy to reach Sunday's final.
Carter only made the field for snooker's most exclusive event when Ronnie O'Sullivan opted not to play, meaning the man ranked 17 in world - a player with whom O'Sullivan does not see eye to eye - was called up as first reserve.
The Essex potter has taken full advantage, adding Shaun Murphy to Mark Selby and John Higgins as he completed a sweep of former world champions to set up an opportunity to seal the biggest victory of his career.
Murphy had been favourite for both the match and the tournament heading into Saturday's semi-final, but despite bagging two centuries he was ultimately beaten by his opportunistic opponent.
Carter had a little luck on his side - particularly in frame eight, when an outrageous fluke helped restore his two-frame lead - but to his credit, the 40-year-old gobbled up his opportunity to close out the match in frame nine with a flawless break of 97.
He’ll face Stuart Bingham on Sunday, after the former world champion thumped Masters debutant David Gilbert 6-2.
