Barry Hawkins saw off stoic resistance from Neil Robertson to win 6-3 and book a MrQ Masters quarter-final showdown with Ronnie O’Sullivan at Alexandra Palace.
Victory hands Hawkins revenge for his 10-4 defeat at the hands of Australia’s Robertson in the 2022 Masters final. It sets up a repeat of the 2016 final with O’Sullivan, which he lost 10-1.
The Londoner has enjoyed a brilliant campaign so far, having already registered silverware at the European Masters last August. Hawkins scored a brilliant 9-6 win over player of the season so far Judd Trump to capture the title and win ranking silverware for the first time since 2017.
By contrast Robertson has endured one of his worst seasons in years and finds his place in the world’s top 16 under threat. He currently sits in 32nd position in the provisional end of season rankings. The 2010 World Champion hasn’t been past the last 32 in ranking competition so far this term.
The opening frames this evening were fiercely contested and lasted over an hour, before the pair emerged level at 1-1. Hawkins halted the fragmented nature of the game in the third with a break of 96 to take the lead, before adding the fourth to make it 3-1 at the mid-session.
When play resumed world number 15 Hawkins made it 4-1, but at that point 23-time ranking event winner Robertson summoned a comeback charge. Back-to-back century runs of 117 and 110 saw him surge back into contention at 4-3.
However, that rally was soon snuffed out by the Hawk, who composed contributions of 69 and 57 to get himself over the line and into the last eight.
Hawkins said: “It didn’t come easily tonight and everything was a bit of a struggle. I tried my hardest and that is all you can do out there really. He responded well to make back-to-back centuries and go 4-3. It was important to win that next frame, I was pleased to get that one.
“The occasion out there and the crowd gets you bang up for it and gets you more focussed. I enjoy playing out there a bit more than other smaller events.
“It is going to be unbelievable. Any time you play Ronnie is a big occasion, but even more so in this place. It is going to be electric and I’m really looking forward to it.”