Pankaj Advani and Devendra Joshi set up an all-Indian final in the World Billiards Championship in Malta.
The dream clash, in the points format event, materialized after Advani upset top seed Robby Foldvari of Australia 5-4 and Joshi blanked local hero Joe Grech 5-0 in the semi-finals.
Advani, who is on a roll after winning his maiden National title earlier this year, had to dig into all his resources to defeat Foldvari.
This will be the third meeting between Advani and Joshi in as many months. Advani won both the earlier clashes, first in the National championship final in Mumbai and then in the Asian Billiards championship quarter-finals in Pune.
If the 19-year-old Advani can complete a hat-trick of wins over Joshi, he will become only the second cueist in the world to win both the world billiards and snooker titles after Malta's Paul Mifsud.
The Bangalore-based Advani had won the 2003 IBSF World snooker title in China.
But it would be a tough ask for Advani to break the rhythm of his senior compatriot, who looks in prime form in the 150-up format.
The 39-year-old Joshi, a former Asian champion, has dropped just one frame in the six matches in the tournament and has shown the capability of compiling big breaks under pressure.
Earlier, Advani won a scintillating battle against seven-time champion Geet Sethi 4-3 while Joshi thrashed Alok Kumar 4-0 in the quarter-finals.
The 150-up event will be followed by the traditional time format championship.
