Tom Ford battled back from 3-0 down to draw level with Jordan Brown at 4-4 after the first session of their International Championship semi-final.
Brown established a 3-0 lead in Tianjin with the aid of breaks of 75, 117 and 58, before runs of 69 and 57 helped his Leicester opponent to restore parity.
The Northern Irishman edged the seventh frame but a century in the next ensured Ford went into the break level.
The first player to nine frames will advance to Sunday’s final.
World number one Ronnie O’Sullivan will face China’s 37th-ranked Zhang Anda in the second semi-final.
The winner of the tournament will collect a first prize of £175,000.
Brown is aiming to reach only the second ranking event final of his career, having caused a huge upset by beating O’Sullivan 9-8 in the final of the Welsh Open in February 2021.
The Antrim player has been unable to match that form subsequently, failing to advance beyond the last 16 of a ranking event thereafter.
The 36-year-old world-ranked 43 player has defeated David Gilbert, Kyren Wilson, John Higgins and Stephen Maguire on his way to making the last four.
Ford, 40, is competing in his ninth ranking event semi-final.
He has previously lost two ranking deciders, going down 4-2 to Mark Selby in the final of the Paul Hunter Classic in 2016 and 10-3 to Ali Carter in the German Masters final in February.
The world number 20 beat Mark Selby and European Masters champion Barry Hawkins earlier in the tournament.
