CHRIS WAKELIN broke down in tears after coming through the “hardest match of my life”.
The Shoot Out champion, 32, kept it all together on the table as he survived a fightback from Xiao Guodong in the International Championship semi-finals in Nanjing.
Though he led 7-3 thanks to a 119 break and looked to be cruising into the final, Wakelin could only sit back and watch in horror as China’s No.29 seed drew the contest level at 8-8.
Yet a relieved Wakelin – who has beaten former world champions Shaun Murphy, Mark Williams and John Higgins this week – produced a nerve-jangling 67 break in the final-frame decider to prevail 9-8.
This has been a life-changing tournament and if he wins the final on Sunday – against either Ding Junhui or Xu Si – he will collect a prize of £175,000.
This result means he has broken into the world’s top 16 and has a Last 32 spot confirmed for this month’s UK Championship in York.
Wakelin, whose girlfriend is expecting a baby, said: “It’s so hard to explain the feelings.
“You work your entire life at this game for moments like this.
“From 8-5 up, I had totally thrown it away. Xiao capitalised on me making ridiculously easy mistakes.
“When it came to the decider, I said to myself: ‘It’s now or never. If your chance comes, just forget about what has happened in the last 3-4 frames.’
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 hen 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.
Most World Titles (modern era)
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“I’m so relieved I have a day off on Saturday. I’m absolutely done in by this. That was the hardest match of my life for sure.
“When you miss golden chances to win matches, they come back to haunt you.
“That has been pretty much how my career had gone for the first 10 years.
“Putting myself in winning situations, frames, matches and tournaments and not taking them.
“To put myself into the semifinals, having played well all week, and for it to fall to pieces right at the end, through no fault of anybody else but myself, that would have been very difficult to take.
“It’s a completely different feeling now. This was my final.
“Getting into the top-16 was the goal. Now I’m in the final on Sunday, I feel like the shackles are off and I have performances in me when it comes down to it.
“When it matters most, I know I have what it takes to take those opportunities.”
