John Higgins reached his first ranking event final in two and half years as he crushed Oliver Lines 6-0 at the Unibet British Open, remaining on course to become the oldest winner of a ranking event since 1982.
Lines had chances in most of the frames but struggled to find any fluency on the biggest occasion of his snooker career. Higgins was far from his best and made only three breaks over 50, but was able to use his massive experience as a tactician to out-fox his opponent.
The Scot will be up against Mark Selby or Mark Allen in the final on Sunday, and first to ten frames will bank £100,000 and lift the Clive Everton Trophy. At 49 years and four months, Higgins is looking to become the oldest ranking event champion other than Ray Reardon who was 50 when he captured the 1982 Professional Players Tournament.
Four-time World Champion Higgins has struggled for form in recent seasons and may have contemplated retirement. But class is permanent and - playing with a new cue - his game has clicked. He is into his 56th ranking event final and first since the 2022 Tour Championship when he lost 10-9 to Neil Robertson. The Wishaw ace is aiming for a 32nd ranking title and first since the 2021 Players Championship.
At the start of this week, Higgins dropped out of the world's top 16 having been ever present since 1995. But his absence from the elite will last a mere seven days, as the £45,000 he is now guaranteed lifts him to at least 14th, and he now looks well placed for a guaranteed spot at the UK Championship and the Masters.
Yorkshireman Lines was playing in his first semi-final, but the 29-year-old couldn't settle into the tie. The opening frame lasted 33 minutes and went to Higgins on the colours. In the second, world number 99 Lines led 43-39 when he made a safety blunder on the last red, and his opponent punished him for 2-0. A break of 57 extended Higgins' lead, and in frame four he trapped Lines in a tough snooker on the last red, creating the opportunity to go 4-0 ahead.
Lines was unable to muster a fight back after the interval as runs of 64 and 67 sealed the result for Higgins.
"I'm delighted to be in another final and can't wait to get out there tomorrow," said Higgins, who won the British Open in 1995, 1998, 2001 and 2004. "I have not won silverware for a few years and I just love the feeling of being the last man standing, that's why I keep going. I am going to have a monumental game tomorrow, they are both immovable objects who are so tough to compete against. I hope it goes 6-5 tonight either way.
"I'll give it everything. There have been points in the last couple of years where I have felt that I am not good enough to compete against these guys and get to the finals. I will savour it."
Lines said: "Nerves got the better of me. I wanted to at least show why I made the semi-final. Even the easiest pots were looking so hard. I have played well all week and I hoped I could find something today, but mentally I didn't give myself a chance, I didn't handle it. You can't play like that against someone of John's class.
"John said to me at the end that it has been a positive week for me. I need to keep getting to these matches to gain more experience."