Ian McCulloch reached the first major final of his 10-year career by beating Mark Williams 6-3 at the British Open.

The Englishman will now face compatriot Paul Hunter, who brought Chris Small's remarkable run to an end in the other semi-final.

McCulloch was quickly off the mark against Williams and scored 372 points without reply on his way to a 4-0 lead.

Williams pulled it back to 4-2 and then 5-3, but McCulloch, who beat defending champion John Higgins in the previous round, clinched the match with a break of 56.

"When you turn professional you dream of winning a big tournament so it would mean everything to me to go on and win the final," said McCulloch.

"I thought I'd play well against Mark and it was my best performance in a TV match.

"Only for the odd spell in the past have I produced anything like that."

Williams was generous in defeat and backed his opponent to do well in the final if he could reproduce the same form.

"Ian was excellent all through the match," said the Welshman.

"I hope he plays like that in the final because if he does he'll walk it."

Small had won 10 successive matches to set up a semi-final clash with Hunter.

But the Scot was beaten 6-3 by the world number nine, who is relishing his meeting with McCullough.

"If I'd have played Mark, I would have been the underdog. Now, everyone will be expecting me to win," said Hunter.

"But anyone can win tournaments these days. Ian is playing really well so I'll have to keep focused for the whole match."