O'Sullivan is back in the final after a tense battle with Lee

O'Sullivan came back from three frames down with a straight run of four, including breaks of 75, 50 and 88.

Lee went on to win two more frames before the defending champion eventually claimed the decider 74-1.

In Saturday's all-Scottish second semi-final, Higgins beat Alan McManus 6-2 to earn a showdown with the Rocket.

Leading 5-0, Higgins stuttered and let McManus battle back to 5-2 before nearly recovering to 5-3.

I can't wait to play him - it's Ronnie's back yard and it will be a full house John Higgins

But a superb break of 79 saw the Scot victorious and relishing his showdown with world number one O'Sullivan.

"It's a game you dream about - and I've got a point to prove," said Higgins.

"I can't wait to play him. It's Ronnie's back yard and it will be a full house. I'm delighted to be through."

But earlier this year Higgins notched up a record 484 unanswered points against The Rocket in his win at the Grand Prix.

In the first semi-final, O'Sullivan admitted he was forced to work hard to beat fellow Englishman Lee.

"It was really tough. I was struggling and finding it hard to get my game going early on," said O'Sullivan.

"Stephen is a great player, a great break-builder and I always knew this game was going to be a hard one to get through.

"His safety game was that good that I just had to hope the balls would open up and give me a chance. It's certainly not the best way to win a snooker match.