Favourite Mark Williams won three of the opening four frames of his Embassy World Championship final with comeback king Ken Doherty at the Crucible Theatre.
Doherty was first among the balls with a 37 break and there was then a period of scrappy play ended when Williams fluked a red to set him on his way to a frame-clinching run of 42 to the final black.
The next was also nip and tuck before Williams produced a splendid long pot on the penultimate red into the left black pocket and a 23 left Doherty needing snookers.
Doherty could not afford to concede the kind of deficit that Williams' semi-final opponent Stephen Lee had experienced when he trailed 7-1 after the first session and was always trying in vain to play catch-up.
The 33-year-old Dubliner opened his account in the third with an assured break of 76 but it was Williams who re-established a two-frame advantage before the break.
He opened up with a 38 and, although Doherty responded with 29, a poor safety shot allowed his Welsh opponent back in to clear enough balls to make the frame safe.
The big question-mark would be over whether Doherty had enough stamina left after a fortnight in which three of his matches have gone to the final frame.
The Irishman had participated in 98 frames and on Saturday produced a comeback of heroic proportions to defeat Paul Hunter 17-16 after trailing 15-9.
Williams, in contrast, has had a comfortable passage to the final and has only required 72 frames to reach this stage.
Doherty said: "Have I any energy left? I've gone to the well a few times this last couple of weeks and I have to do it once more in the final.
"But I think the adrenalin keeps you going and that's what has kept me going for the last couple of weeks. I've had long games but I won't use that as an excuse.
"This is too important to be tired for. I won't be tired for the final."