Shaun Murphy won the final three frames of the morning session to set up a grandstand finish to his World Snooker Championship semi-final against Kyren Wilson.
The fired-up former champion, who trailed 10-4 at one stage in the match, clawed his way back to 12-12 ahead of Saturday evening’s conclusion.
Murphy had punched the air in delight after winning the final two frames of Friday afternoon’s session to haul his deficit back to four frames and give himself hope of a recovery.
And although Wilson immediately extended his advantage back to five, Murphy gradually gained the upper hand when play resumed on Saturday and marked a major turning point when he potted a long black to pull back to 11-9.
Once again Murphy betrayed his emotions as he headed for the mid-session interval, and although Wilson took the next to go 12-9, breaks of 120 and 76 helped Murphy establish parity in their best-of-33 encounter.