NO one is more surprised than David Gray to be playing in the Travis Perkins UK Snooker Championship final in York tomorrow.

He snatched a 9-8 victory from the jaws of defeat last night to earn a clash with the winner of tonight's semi-final at the Barbican Centre.

The world number 14 from Surrey was 8-7 down to Joe Perry, who looked set to take the frame he needed for a place in the final.

He led 53-8 with two reds left in the 16th frame but snookered himself on the second last red. Gray got a snooker, then sank the last red, potted a great black and cleared up to win the frame 54-53 for 8-8.

And in the deciding frame he surged to victory with a superb 139.

"I should be on the motorway on the way home," Gray said afterwards.

"I was on my way out, ready to get up and shake his hand as the winner. If he hadn't snookered himself I was out. Now tomorrow I've got probably the biggest match of my life."

Perry opened with a 102 break in the first frame and Gray responded with 105 in the next.

Trailing 5-3 at the start of the evening session Gray hit back to level and there was never more than a frame between them after that.

Gray, who made a 147 maximum break in his second round win over Mark Selby, fired in a 118 to make it 6-6. Then it was toe-to-toe, neither player giving an inch, until Perry got himself into trouble in the 16th and Gray grabbed his chance.

Tonight Mark King is out to enjoy the occasion come-what-may as he tackles the daunting task of trying to outplay big scoring Scot Stephen Maguire for a place in the final.

He was chilling out yesterday trying to beat the flu virus which had him feeling well below par with blurred vision and a fever during his quarter-final win over John Parrott.

"I will be going out there and enjoying it," said the world number 23 from Romford, who has beaten former world and UK champion Mark Williams, dogged Scot Alan McManus and Parrott to get to the last four.

It's a far cry from last year when King, who was world number 11 only two seasons ago, considered quitting snooker after a poor run of form.

Things have picked up since then and he got to the Irish Masters final in Dublin earlier this year, losing to Peter Ebdon, which has renewed the left-hander's enthusiasm for snooker.

Maguire has taken York by storm with his attacking play which has seen knock in five century breaks while beating world champion Ronnie O'Sullivan, snooker legend Steve Davis and world number 9 Stephen Lee.

"I'm feeling relaxed and confident, but I'm not going to get carried away," said the Scot, who reached the British Open final in Brighton earlier this month, losing to John Higgins.

Tomorrow's best-of-19 frames final, with sessions at 3pm and 8pm, is a sell-out.

Updated: 10:11 Saturday, November 27, 2004