Ronnie O'Sullivan has so far been proven right with his pre-final comments about Kyren Wilson as he holds an 11-6 lead over Jak Jones at the World Snooker Championships.
O'Sullivan's bid for a record eighth world title came to an end at the quarter-final stage, where a number of top seeds also faltered.
The semi-finals featured three qualifiers and No 12 seed Wilson, who's best run at the Crucible was reaching the final back in 2020 when he lost to O'Sullivan.
Wilson eased past David Gilbert to reach his second world championship final with Jones beating Bingham in the other contest to stay on course for a historic tournament.
Ronnie O'Sullivan feels Kyren Wilson has the grit to win the world title
REUTERS
A new world champion will be crowned regardless in a life-changing moment for either player.
Wilson was seen as the strong favourite heading into the final, although the 32-year-old has not had his best season on tour.
Speaking ahead of the final, O'Sullivan backed Wilson's grit and determination to help him see off the challenge of Jones.
“He is a battler, he never gives in,” O’Sullivan said on Eurosport.
“He plays the table, he does not seem to play the scoreboard.
“You can go 9-4 up against him but if you drop your pace he will keep potting balls and he won’t think it is over, which is a great asset to have.
“He will have that for the rest of his career.”
That proved to be the case on Sunday as Wilson took a commanding 7-1 lead over the Welshman in the opening session.
Ronnie O'Sullivan was knocked out of the World Snooker Championships by Stuart Bingham
REUTERS
It led to serious questions on whether the best-of-35 clash would reach the scheduled final session on Monday night.
But Jones managed to rediscover the kind of form that got him into the final in the second session on Sunday.
The 30-year-old won back-to-back frames to get him back on track with breaks of 75 and 52, but Wilson twice clinched his six-frame lead back.
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Jake Jones trails by five frames heading into Monday
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Jones' biggest break of the session then reduced the gap to 10-6 and was well positioned to get back within three frames after moving 29 points ahead with just 27 left on the table.
However, Jones agonisingly missed the yellow before Wilson eventually took advantage to hold a 11-6 lead heading into Monday.
Jones is hoping to become the third qualifier to win at the Crucible, following in the footsteps of Shaun Murphy (2005) and Terry Griffiths (1979).