Joe Perry. Picture by Monique Limbos

JOE PERRY made it through to his second major ranking final in a career spanning more than 20 years after beating Martin Gould in the Wuxi Classic semi-finals.

Perry will face defending champion Neil Robertson in Sunday’s first showdown finale of the 2014/15 campaign after he scrapped his way to a 6-4 win earlier today (Saturday).

Tomorrow’s best of 19 contest will be Perry’s first appearance in a major final since 2001 when he ended as runner-up in the then named European Open which he lost to Stephen Hendry.

The match will be something of a strange one for both players as the pair are good friends off the table and have practiced together for several years.

Breaks of 59 and 38 handed Perry the opening frame before Gould levelled things up with a break of 58 in the second frame.

Two fouls on the black from Gould cost him the third frame but, like in the second frame, a half century break helped level matters at 2-2 going into the interval.

But after regaining the lead after the break, Perry looked to have taken the match by the scruff of the neck as breaks of 89 and 58 placed him on the brink leading 5-2.

However, what looked a formality proved not the case as Gould kept alive his hopes of reaching his first major ranking final as Gould won two scrappy frames to close the gap to 5-4.

But Perry finished the job off after midnight in China time with the help of a fluked red as Gould was trying to get back into the frame.