That they have won the world title three times each is not where the coincidence ends. In their semi-finals on Tuesday they not only demonstrated that they are a class apart but also got the first 400-plus breaks of the Championship, and both coming from behind their opponents to make those breaks that made the difference between defeat and victory.

Sethi has won the world title in 1992, 1993 and 1995, and Russell has won it in 1989, 1991 and 1996.

The clash of the titans will be evenly matched; though Russell appears to have an edge where current form is concerned, Geet has the overwhelming crowd, seen in attendance in the hall only for his matches, behind him.

Russell began very tentatively in the morning session of the semi-final against Robby Foldvari when it was veryhumid and in 11 visits managed to score only 121, 225 less than the latter's 346 at the stage. Foldvari by then already had breaks of 76, 103 and 121.

After being plagued by some poor openings, three successive breaks of 51, 86 and 50 helped Russell retrieve some ground. Foldvari led 478-376.

The Australian, known the world over as one of the most ponderous players, turned his unfinished break of 12 into a 60 in the second session.

And that is when Russell stung. On his very first visit of the final session, still trailing by 150 points, Russell compiled a brilliant 489, the highest of the Championship so far, regaining his magic touch -- displaying absolute control, flawless anticipation and infallible judgement.

Perhaps the best exponent of the floating white in the world, it was a delight to watch Russell playing with such virtuosity at top table, making the three-ball game on the green baize look like the simplest thing to do.

The break ended, much to the relief of Foldvari, when Russell misseda red long-loser. However, Foldvari could not capitalise on it much and managed just two breaks of 61 and an unfinished one of 60 at time, while Russell got another century to wind up winner 1151-755.

After the match Russell said, ``It was too humid and sticky in the morning and I couldn't get get the cue to run through the ball, but it was the big break that really won me the match.''

Sethi too was trailing David Causier by 375 points in the first session when he cut the deficit by 209 with a single break and wiped it out with three successive breaks of 186, 99 and 62. At the end of the session Geet led by 30 points.

But Causier, always on his toes and playing at such breakneck speed it would almost seem to be reckless, got a break of 177 in the second session, again to gain advantage.

And it was when he was trailing by 85 points that Sethi came up with a massive break of 403 in just 32 minutes. That break ended when Sethi, playing with the yellow ball lost position, had to pot the white and doublebaulk. But it had swung the match irrevocably in his favour. Though Causier had another break of 114, it was not big enough to cause Sethi any nightmares and he won 1436-1265.

Sethi said later, ``that big break came at the right time and it was of the right size, and it won me the match.''

Admitting that it was a tense encounter, he said, ``initially my cue-arm was heavy and I missed too often. It was pure tension, nothing else. I was tense because I just had to get through to the finals.''

On the summit clash, Sethi opined: ``tomorrow is another day, and it's another match. Russell and I both got 400-plus breaks. It's going to be a toss of the coin.''

The first session of the final will be played from 10.00 a.m. to 12.00 noon, and the second session from 2.45 p.m. to 4.45 p.m.

RESULTS

Semi-finals: Geet Sethi 1436 (209, 186, 99, 62, 83, 403, 71) bt David Causier 1265 (97, 67, 95, 53, 62, 177, 51, 114, 70); Mike Russell 1151 (51, 86, 50, 489, 50, 84, 104) bt Robby Foldvari 755 (76, 103, 121,83, 60, 61, 60-unfinished).