Snooker:Shaun Murphy settled down after a nervy start to lead Stephen Maguire 6-2 in a repeat of last year's Maplin UK Championship semi-final in Telford.
Maguire had pulled away to a 7-1 lead by the same stage during last year's semi-final meeting between the pair, but Murphy was the player to establish an early advantage today.
Neither player had looked like taking control during an error-ridden opening to the match however.
A break of 38 set Murphy on his way to a decent lead in the first frame, which left his opponent requiring three snookers. Maguire could only find one, allowing the world number three to take the first frame after potting the final red on the table.
Maguire levelled things up in the second frame despite putting the cue ball in the pocket and missing an easy attempt at the pink near the end.
Both players continued to stumble at the start of the third, but Murphy got lucky when he fluffed another easy shot on the red to the bottom left which somehow found its way into the yellow pocket.
A couple of useful breaks from Murphy secured the frame, however Maguire had his chances and missed a costly red.
From then on Murphy looked more composed, taking the fourth frame with a break of 61, before topping that with an 85 in the first frame to be completed in under 10 minutes.
Maguire responded with a 41 at the start of the sixth but unexpectedly missed a straight, dead-weight red to allow his opponent back to the table to seize a 5-1 lead.
The Scot had more luck in the next frame as a break of 46 left Murphy needing three snookers and proved enough for Maguire to pull the score back to 5-2.
But in a scrappy final frame of the afternoon, Murphy came out on top to take a commanding-looking lead into the evening session of the best-of-17 match.
The pair are playing for a place in tomorrow's final against Hong Kong potter Marco Fu, who yesterday completed a storming comeback to defeat Ali Carter 9-7.