Matthew Stevens swiftly collected the two frames he needed to complete a ruthless 13-5 victory over Ryan Day in their World Championship quarter-final.
Day led 5-2 after two century breaks but his fellow Welshman won the last frame of the first session and all eight of the second to move 11-5 clear.
The two-time Crucible finalist edged a tight opening frame on Wednesday and took the next to make it 11 in a row.
He will play either Neil Robertson or Ronnie O'Sullivan in the semi-finals.
It is the sixth occasion Stevens, 34, has reached the last four, but the first time for seven years, since he lost the 2005 final to Shaun Murphy.
"I'm so excited, it's been a long time," said the Carmarthen-based cueman, who returned to the elite top 16 last year after four years in the doldrums.
He admitted he did not need to find anything approaching his best form though to fend off his good friend Day, whose performance deteriorated badly on Tuesday in a low-quality evening session in which the highest breaks were 59 and 63 from Stevens.
"Last night [Tuesday] was very strange," he added. "Both of us struggled, and it was very tough for Ryan. I don't know what was happening to be honest.
"It was tough to play against. Sometimes you've just got to dig in there and I managed to do that a bit better.
"It was very disappointing because it was such a good start. I made an 80 [86], then he made two centuries [100 and 110], and I thought it was going to be a fantastic match.
"But snooker's not all about potting and making breaks, and sometimes you do struggle and you've got to stick in there."
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