Ronnie O'Sullivan recovered from the brink of defeat to defeat Mark Selby 17-16 and establish the World Championship final against Keren Wilson.
O'Sullivan, who was defeated by Selby in the 2014 final, was trailing 16-14 but won two quick shot frames and a tense decisive to reach the seventh Sheffield final.
The best of 35 final against fellow Englishman Wilson, which will take place on Saturday and Sunday, will see fans return to the Crucible Theater after the government announced the resumption of test events with spectators.
World number eight Wilson earlier qualified for his final match after a superb victory in the final frame against Scottish Anthony McGill.
Seven-time world champion Stephen Hendry said on BBC 2: "You can't believe how the semifinals ended today. The tension was unbelievable."
- Wilson beats McGill in a fine finish to reach the Final
- Watch live BBC coverage from Crucible
- Full schedule of tournaments and results
Ronnie O'Sullivan told BBC 2: "For three days I was looking for a new job where I could hit the ball half straight.
"I watch him [Selby] cast the light as he's got perfect settings and a perfect start by trying to make the result look respectable, but some of my play just wasn't great."
"If I can find the action, I'll enjoy the final match. Doing the cue first and everything else is a bonus."
O'Sullivan will claim his sixth world title with a draw alongside Steve Davis and only one behind the legendary Scott Hendry.
The victory would also make him the most successful snooker player of all time with his 37th title, ahead of Hendry.
Meanwhile, Wilson will appear as the two-time ranking event winner in the Triple Crown event final after losing the 2018 Masters to Mark Allen.
Selby is unhappy with the "disrespectful" Ronnie O'Sullivan.
The final day of the semi-final saw two great matches.
O'Sullivan led the five-time champion 5-3 but Selby fought back to lead 9-7 and could have extended his lead to 14-9, but O'Sullivan responded by finishing the second round trailing 13-11.
He started the last session with a score of 114 and took the next to set the competition with his fourth frame in a row.
Selby stopped the rot with the next pinch by breaking a 56 counterattack and breaking another 63 of the victory.
Ronnie O'Sullivan, who had won a record 19 Triple Crown titles, clinched the next title, but some reckless shots allowed Selby to increase his lead to 16-14.
Selby then said, “I felt his gameplay was a bit disrespectful, every time I got him into snooker he would drop and hit the ball at 100 mph and it could have gone anywhere.
"Whether it was just in that frame of mind but it felt like it was kind of disrespectful to me at the table."
`` The Rocket '' decided to launch an all-out attack and quickly fired 138 total clearances to reduce his arrears and was forced to mark the final frame with a break of 71.
The conclusion of the first semifinals earlier in the day was exciting and it turned out to be the same - Ronnie O'Sullivan made 64 in the 33rd frame but missed the final red he needed and Selby scored 34.
After a bout of tactical play on the red, Ronnie O'Sullivan forced the foul and removed the paintball to clinch his first win over Selby in Sheffield.
Responding to Selby's comments, Ronnie O'Sullivan said, “You want to hit him as hard as you can, and I hope you get luck or I'll get 40 points.
"Don't blame me, blame the miss rule. If I'm as good as Mark Selby at getting out of snooker, maybe I can get the balls out safely. I have no idea."
"He's in some pain I think, he just lost the World Championship semi-finals. I understand that."
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