Gary Wilson produced a Houdini act to reel off the closing three frames and win on a respotted black to reach the final and keep his Scottish Open title defence alive.
Wilson’s form this season has been well below the level that took him to the title at the Meadowbank Sports Centre 12 months ago.
He scrapped his way to the quarter-finals before finding “something” in an impressive win over Chris Wakelin.
Errors crept back in against Zhou, but he dug deep when it mattered and got two snookers in the final frame before winning a dramatic respot after 17 shots.
The opener was a scrappy affair, which turned Wilson’s way when he laid a fiendish snooker and claimed several foul points.
Zhou settled into the match in the second frame, as he picked off the 200th century of his career with a 106 to level the scores.
Wilson produced snooker out of the top drawer in beating Wakelin in the quarter-finals, but his level was below that on Saturday and he bit his cue in frustration when missing a straightforward black at 55-17 to the good in the third and Zhou pounced to edge in front.
After talking about battling with the yips earlier in the week, Wilson is not comfortable with his game and he missed a simple chance at the start of the fourth. But it did not prove costly as he got back in to make 88 to level the match at 2-2 heading into the interval.
Zhou started strongly upon the resumption, and a fine knock of 56 edged the 25-year-old back in front.
He extended his lead when taking the sixth, but Wilson dug in to snatch a nervy seventh in which both players passed up a host of chances.
The telling moment came when Zhou left the brown in the jaws of the yellow pocket and in a bid to ease the tension, Wilson said, “This is one I can’t miss”.
Wilson knocked in an excellent starter in the eighth and strode round the table with a spring in his step, but he was stopped in his tracks when unfortunately fouling when splitting the pack.
Zhou ruthlessly stepped in and picked off an excellent 77 to move within one frame of victory.
With his back against the wall, Wilson went on the attack in the ninth. He knocked in an excellent long red, the split went his way on this occasion and it led to a 122 break to keep the match alive.
Wilson was on the front foot when getting in early in the 10th, but he missed a red to the bottom right. Zhou inherited a tough table – with the black near balk and the pink out of commission – and despite a series of sparkling pots he could only make 24 before missing a tough plant.
With Zhou holding a 33-18 lead, the frame turned extremely scrappy with both vying for the ascendancy in a safety exchange.
Wilson got his chance from a poor Zhou safety, and he knocked in a brilliant red from distance before working through a superb break of 54 to force a decider.
After pouncing on a mistake in the previous frame, it was Wilson’s turn to make an error as he caught a safety much too thick.
Zhou dispatched the opening red and showed excellent cue-ball control under the highest of pressure in making 69 to leave him in control of the contest with Wilson in need of a snooker.
Wilson was in no mood to give up his title without a fight and he cleared the remaining reds and went in search of a snooker. Zhou made a series of escapes as Wilson piled on the pressure.
On the colours, Wilson found himself in snooker, and in a hit-and-hope moment he connected with the yellow and sent it round the table and it amazingly dropped in the left middle.
After the crowd had settled, they realised Wilson was in another snooker on the green. He made the escape, but Zhou potted it and clenched his fist in celebration with Wilson needing two snookers to tie.
That was premature, as Wilson worked snooker on the brown and then the blue – which set up the prospect of a respot on the black.
Wilson knocked in blue, pink, and black to give the crowd in Edinburgh the sight of an extra black to decide the match.
In a tense passage of play, Zhou had the first chance but the long black stayed up and handed Wilson a shot at the right middle.
It was not easy, but Wilson knew it was in before it had dropped as he let out a huge “come on” at the point the black dropped to win the match and keep his title defence alive.
