By Saj Chowdhury BBC Sport in Sheffield

Fu won six successive frames to make it 15-15

Peter Ebdon hailed Marco Fu as "magnificent" after the Hong Kong player won six frames in a row to level their semi-final before losing 17-16.

"It means so much and I've worked so hard for this," said Ebdon.

"I don't know how Marco must be feeling. All credit to him, it was a remarkable performance and he showed incredible strength of character.

"Marco was magnificent and I've got to take my hat off to him. I can't praise him enough. He was awesome."

Ebdon, who also beat Stephen Hendry in a last-frame decider to win the 2002 event, ranked his half-century break in the 33rd and final frame as one of his most significant.

Ebdon holds off Fu to reach final

"When I needed to perform I did," said the 35-year-old. "That was probably one of the best and important breaks, under pressure, in my career. That break was massive."

Ebdon also said he was relieved for the sake of his family not to have suffered at the hands of one of the great comebacks in Crucible history.

"The flight had already been booked for the children to come over from Dubai. You can imagine how I would have felt had I lost from that position."

Fu was left to reflect on what might have been, but praised Ebdon for his determination.

Under that pressure I don't know how many people could have produced the break he did to win Marco Fu

"I did everything I could to win," said the 28-year-old. "I came out for the last session very relaxed knowing I had to win 8-1 for victory.

"That was a tall order against Peter, especially considering the way he played in the second session.

"But then things started going my way and I was making all the breaks to put Peter under pressure.

"But you have to give credit to Peter for the way he finished it off in the last frame. I missed a pink and after that I didn't do much wrong.

"Under that much pressure I don't know how many people could have produced the break he did to effectively win the match."

And Fu, the first Asian to make the last four in Sheffield since James Wattana, backed Ebdon to pick up the title on Monday.

"Peter's been involved in a lot of epic matches and the match we've played won't affect him. I think I lost to the winner of the tournament."