Playing some of the best snooker of his career, Barry Hawkins stormed to a 10-5 victory over Judd Trump in the quarter-finals of the Sportsbet.io Tour Championship to move within two wins of what would be his biggest ever title.
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Having beaten Shaun Murphy by an astonishing 10-1 margin in the opening round in Manchester, making five centuries, Hawkins took another huge scalp with a superb performance against world number one Trump, highlighted by a century and six more breaks over 60. The Londoner is the first man into the semi-finals and will meet John Higgins or Xiao Guodong on Friday.
Hawkins, age 45, has won four ranking titles in his career, most recently the 2023 European Masters, but if he went all the way to the top prize this week it would be his most prestigious trophy and biggest pay day of £150,000.
Trump has had an outstanding season, winning the Shanghai Masters, Saudi Arabia Snooker Masters and Victorian Plumbing UK Championship (where he beat Hawkins 10-8 in the final) but having lost 10-9 to Kyren Wilson in the recent Sportsbet.io Player Championship final, today's defeat is another blow to his confidence, with the Crucible his next destination.
Leading 6-2 after the first session, Hawkins took the opening frame tonight to extend his lead. Trump pulled one back with a break of 103, his 93rd century of the season, and he had a scoring chance in frame 11 but missed a red to a top corner on 12 and his opponent took advantage for 8-3. A run of 92 gave Trump the 12th, only for Hawkins to hit back with a 121 for 9-4. Trump continued to battle and made an 81 in frame 14, but a missed red to a top corner on 32 in the next proved his last shot as Hawkins sealed the result with an 81 clearance.
"I didn't play quite as well as I did against Shaun, but I was very solid and took my chances," said world number 12 Hawkins, who had lost his six previous meetings with Trump. "It's not easy to beat the world number one. From 6-2 I kept a good mindset. Judd made a couple of big breaks and I thought 'here we go', if he starts finding his range he can get on a roll and win frames fast. If it had gone 9-7 or 9-8 I was bang under it, so I was really pleased with the way I took the match out in the end. Any win over Judd is a great feather in the cap, especially as he had beaten me the last few times.
"I haven't got a clue what the difference has been this season, I am just going out and playing. I am staying relaxed, concentrating on myself and playing the way I do in practice. I'm not worrying about who is sitting in the other chair. I have been playing for 30 years and I have learned not to be stressed out. This is a bonus tournament for me because it is so hard to get into. I have had a good season and I am determined to enjoy it and not feel any pressure."
Meanwhile, Mark Selby opened up a 7-1 lead over Neil Robertson in their quarter-final clash. Four-time World Champion Selby will need just three of the last 11 frames on Thursday evening to set up a semi-final with Kyren Wilson or Ding Junhui.
The opening frame lasted 64 minutes, resolved when Selby got the better of a long safety battle on the final brown. Robertson levelled with a break of 61, before Selby dominated the next four with runs of 69, 105, 86 and 68 to lead 5-1. Robertson had chances in each of the last two frames but couldn't take advantage, and on both occasions Selby cleared from the last red to extend his cushion.