Graeme Dott produced an extraordinary fight back yesterday to beat John Higgins 6-5 and reach today’s final of the Malta Cup where he will be facing another Scottish player, former several times world champion Stephen Hendry.

So certain did Dott look to lose that match 6-3 that he loosened his bow tie and came “unbelievably close” to shaking his opponent’s hand. But Higgins missed his chance to close out victory and ended up second best after a tense deciding frame.

Dott, who won the last four frames, is now through to the fourth ranking final of his career and is seeking his maiden major title. The 27-year-old Glaswegian will face Stephen Hendry in today’s final over 17 frames.

Later yesterday evening, Hendry defeated Matthew Stevens 6-3 in the other semi-final.

It was another steady performance by Hendry against Stevens who rarely Hendry’s consistency throughout the match, especially after Hendry had taken a 4-1 lead soon after the break.

“I missed a red in the ninth frame and I thought the match was over,” admitted Higgins, runner-up to Ronnie O’Sullivan at the Crucible last spring. “I was 50 points down and the balls were there for John. I was actually unbelievably close to conceding the match. I sat in my chair and unbuckled my tie. I couldn’t believe I got another chance. After I cleared up I felt great. I started the match very badly, but I kept thinking I was going to run into form at some point.”

Higgins as he took the opening frame with runs of 28 and 29, then he hit top gear in the second with a 141 total clearance, putting himself in line for the high break prize.

He added a 117 to go 3-0 up. Dott built a 65-1 lead in the next and sealed in on the pink as Higgins failed to get the snooker he required.

Higgins raced on to take a 5-2 lead, and appeared to be in confident mood, but Dott came back strongly to take four frames in a row, clinching the final one after edging 59-0 ahead in the decider in four scoring visits. Higgins had a chance to force a respotted black but missed the penultimate red and eventually conceded defeat after Dott had potted the last red.

“It hasn’t sunk in yet, if it had I don’t know what I’d be doing,” said former world champion Higgins. “I had plenty of chances to win it 6-3 and when I didn’t take them, I just knew it wasn’t going to happen for me.

“I’ve had matches before that I couldn’t finish and I’ll have them again. Graeme played very well in the last two frames and didn’t make any mistakes.”