Ken Doherty's bid to win a Benson and Hedges Masters title has collapsed following a 3-6 defeat at the hands of Stephen Hendry.
Hendry will be aiming to complete a magnificent seventh when he faces Mark Williams in tomorrow's best-of-19-frames final at Wembley, worth stg£210,000 to the eventual winner.
And the most successful player in the game's history would be an apt winner for the final Masters, which ends this year because of government legislation outlawing tobacco sponsorship.
Hendry produced a top-drawer performance to blast past Doherty, highlighting victory with a 144 total clearance.
The break was the joint second highest, with his 144 in 1996, in Masters history, behind Kirk Stevens' 147 maximum in 1984.
But Hendry still had to fight hard to stop Doherty coming back. The Dubliner closed to 5-3 and had chances to win the ninth as well before the 34-year-old Scot clinched it on the pink.
It left Hendry, who came through 6-4 against Jimmy White in a bear-pit atmosphere on Friday night, thoroughly satisfied with his evening's work.
"It was a very good win," Hendry said. "I felt a lot more relaxed than I did against Jimmy.
"Getting through a match like that gave me a huge boost and I came out against Ken with all guns blazing.
"I'm looking forward to playing Mark, it should be a fantastic match.
"It would be nice to win seven B&H Masters titles as well as seven world titles but I'm sure Mark will have something to say about that.
"We are both playing for pride and it would be a great honour to win the last ever Masters sponsored by B&H."
Doherty left disappointed but hopeful that a new sponsor could be found to ensure the event continues in some form.
"I hope someone can be found to support this tournament because it's one of the majors and one event everybody wants to play in."