Mark Allen overcame fellow Antrim man Jordan Brown 5-2 in the quarter-final of the Northern Ireland Open at Belfast’s Waterfront Hall.
The world number eight was asked questions in the match, but found the answers to advance into a semi-final against England’s Judd Trump on Saturday (19:00 BST).
Allen began well with a break of 101 taking the first frame, but Brown responded in fine style with a break of 131 in the second levelling the match.
The third turned into a tactical battle on the colours, but Allen saw the frame out and stretched his lead in the fourth.
Brown again hit back, this time with a break of 120 to pull a frame back, but Allen produced the goods in the following frames to advance.
“I was relieved to get over the line. It was not a lot of fun playing Jordan,” Allen told TNT Sports.
“It may have been a great occasion for the neutral as we had a lot of support, but it was a strange atmosphere because they want us both to do well. I don’t get much enjoyment out of beating Jordan because I always support him otherwise.
“He played a lot of good stuff, made two good centuries, he just missed one or two balls at key moments. If it had gone 4-3 he would have been confident.
“This is where he belongs. I have practised with him for 25 years and I know what he is capable of. I said to him at the end that he has had three good wins this week and he needs to take the positives forward because he is a class act.”
Trump was also a 5-2 winner in his quarter-final, defeating John Higgins for a 13th straight time in a ranking event.
The world number one was behind after the first frame, but won the next two with breaks of 93 and 82 before Higgins drew level.
However, Trump took over from there with a pair of 72 breaks and closed out his win with 121 to reach his first semi-final of the season.
