Ali Carter was set to miss Shanghai Masters – but snooker star could now scoop £210,000 jackpot
The Captain is ranked 17th in the world and was one spot off qualifying by rights for the event following the end of last season.
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Yet more than two weeks ago, world no.10 Mark Allen withdrew for family reasons, a spot opened up and that meant Carter had to quickly pack his bags for China.
And for the THIRD match in a row, the unseeded cueist produced comeback heroics, this time coming from 8-6 down to beat four-time world snooker champion Mark Selby 10-8 in the semi-finals.
Against Xiao Guodong and Mark Williams in the previous two rounds, Carter prevailed 6-5 despite being 5-2 down and being one frame and one big break away from elimination.
The Essex potter, who scored breaks of 102 and 129 against the Leicester Jester, said: 'It's just surreal, isn't it? When you don't take it too seriously.
'I always want to win, whether I want to play someone at table tennis. But I was just out there competing.
'Listen, when I have been four frames behind or need four frames to win at 8-6 down and 6-2 down twice, I'm ready to go home.
'I'm looking at moving my flight forward. It's as simple as that. Sometimes you can have all the positive things said to you.
'The secret is not to think about anything. Just turn up and play. Whatever happens, happens.
'Really I shouldn't even be here now. If Mark Allen doesn't withdraw – I hope he is okay by the way – and I'm 40 points behind to Williams at 5-2 down.
'I'm looking at my watch thinking, well I could get the midnight flight here. All of a sudden, I have won and I'm in the final. Happy days.'
Carter – who can take Saturday off – will face the winner of the other semi-final between Kyren Wilson and Zhao Xintong in Sunday's final over the best of 21 frames at the Luwan Gymnasium.
Snooker fans baffled as star who's not won a match all year knocks in staggering 147 break
It is 15 years since he was last the master of the Shanghai Masters but on that occasion, he overindulged BEFORE the event started with some drinks on the 12-hour plane journey.
Carter, 46, said: 'I love Shanghai. I love the city. I won it when it was a ranking event.
'I'd love to win it again. Whether I play Kyren, who is growing in confidence year-after-year, a great player – or the current world champion and everyone's favourite in China.
'I'm like the wily old fox, aren't I? I'll turn up and see if I can upset the apple cart.
'In 2010, it was a great victory. All I can remember was enjoying myself a bit too much on the plane.
'Me and Shaun Murphy met in the Clubhouse at Terminal 3 Heathrow.
'We had a few too many drinks before we got on the plane. Then we were fortunate to be near the front of the plane, so we had a few more.
'It tops up. I got to Shanghai. I didn't leave my room for two weeks because I was ill.
'Then the next thing I know, I've picked up the trophy and prize money. Perfect preparation!'
Meanwhile, Wilson's semi-final against world champion Xintong was suspended for a shock reason on Saturday.
List of all-time Snooker World Champions
BELOW is a list of snooker World Champions by year.
The record is for the modern era, widely considered as dating from the 1968-69 season, when the World Professional Billiards and Snooker Association (WPBSA) took control of the sport.
The first World Championships ran from 1927 - with a break from 1941-45 because of World War II and 1958-63 because of a dispute in the sport.
Joe Davis (15), Fred Davis and John Pulman (both 8) were the most successful players during that period.
Stephen Hendry and Ronnie O'Sullivan share the record for the most titles in the modern era, with seven each.
1969 - John Spencer
1970 - Ray Reardon
1971 - John Spencer
1972 - Alex Higgins
1973 - Ray Reardon (2)
1974 - Ray Reardon (3)
1975 - Ray Reardon (4)
1976 - Ray Reardon (5)
1977 - John Spencer (2)
1978 - Ray Reardon (6)
1979 - Terry Griffiths
1980 - Cliff Thorburn
1981 - Steve Davis
1982 - Alex Higgins (2)
1983 - Steve Davis (2)
1984 - Steve Davis (3)
1985 - Dennis Taylor
1986 - Joe Johnson
1987 - Steve Davis (4)
1988 - Steve Davis (5)
1989 - Steve Davis (6)
1990 - Stephen Hendry
1991 - John Parrott
1992 - Stephen Hendry (2)
1993 - Stephen Hendry (3)
1994 - Stephen Hendry (4)
1995 - Stephen Hendry (5)
1996 - Stephen Hendry (6)
1997 - Ken Doherty
1998 - John Higgins
1999 - Stephen Hendry (7)
2000 - Mark Williams
2001 - Ronnie O'Sullivan
2002 - Peter Ebdon
2003 - Mark Williams (2)
2004 - Ronnie O'Sullivan (2)
2005 - Shaun Murphy
2006 - Graeme Dott
2007 - John Higgins (2)
2008 - Ronnie O'Sullivan (3)
2009 - John Higgins (3)
2010 - Neil Robertson
2011 - John Higgins (4)
2012 - Ronnie O'Sullivan (4)
2013 - Ronnie O'Sullivan (5)
2014 - Mark Selby
2015 - Stuart Bingham
2016 - Mark Selby (2)
2017 - Mark Selby (3)
2018 - Mark Williams (3)
2019 - Judd Trump
2020 - Ronnie O'Sullivan (6)
2021 - Mark Selby (4)
2022 - Ronnie O'Sullivan (7)
2023 - Luca Brecel
2024 - Kyren Wilson
2025 - Zhao Xintong
Most World Titles (modern era)
7 - Stephen Hendry, Ronnie O'Sullivan
6 - Ray Reardon, Steve Davis
4 - John Higgins, Mark Selby
3 - John Spencer, Mark Williams
2 - Alex Higgins
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