Mark Selby came back from the brink of defeat to narrowly beat Mark Williams 10-9 in the final to be crowned 2011 Shanghai Masters Champion.
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The Jester held his nerve in the 19th and final frame to clinch the season's second ranking event and scoop the £65,000 prize.
A bitter pill to swallow for Williams, his second successive ranking final defeat and by the same margin as his loss to Stuart Bingham in Australian Open.
The first frame set the pace for what was to be a nip and tuck encounter; Selby began with a 74, only to miss a red to leave Williams a free ball to kick start a the fightback, which he completed to take the opener 75-74.
After levelling at 1-1, Selby then produced a classy 113 to take the lead at the mid-session interval.
With nothing between them, The Jester made up for a scrappy previous frame with another big run of 73 to move 3-2 ahead.
A re-racked sixth frame saw Williams again draw level, producing a superb 132 break, only to fall behind a further two frames, as Selby took charge to lead 5-3.
It looked to be one way traffic going into the interval, however Selby slipped up on 45 with an astonishing miss on a black off its spot to allow Williams in to reduce the defecit to 5-4 with a 67 clearance.
Leicester cueist Selby took frame ten to edge 6-4 ahead, however a huge moment followed in the next as Williams attempt on the yellow was thrown off track by a kick. Selby's luck appeared to be in, but he himself missed a routine green to middle and the Welshman survived to make it 5-6.
The pattern continued as twice Masters champion Selby again edged two in front, coming out on top from a bout of safety, only for his opponent to claim the next to pull back to 7-6.
The tense battle continued as Williams fought back to square it up at 7-7 after a safety error from Selby.
The Welsh potting machine then turned on the style, firing home a long red to spark a winning run and take the lead for the first time since frame one. He then incredibly went one away from glory after a terrific 80 break for 9-7.
Selby looked down and out, trailing 47 points in frame 17, but somehow turned the tables to clinch the frame. He rode his luck again after numerous errors to eventually level back at 9-9 and setup a dramatic final frame decider.
The first chance fell to the world number one, but he failed to pot a long red and thus handed Selby the initiative; the Jester proceeded to pull clear and before long Williams was out of his chair to offer his hand.
Selby's victory means he has already claimed the Wuxi Classic, PTC 4 and Shanghai Masters titles so far this season, making him provisional world number one ahead of his final opponent Mark Williams.
The next event on the Snooker calendar is the Brazil Masters invitational, to be played from September 15-18.
