Shaun Murphy suffered one of the biggest defeats of his 27-year career as he lost 10-1 to Barry Hawkins in the opening round of the Sportsbet.io Tour Championship in Manchester.
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Not since Murphy lost 13-3 to Ronnie O'Sullivan at the 2014 World Championship has the former Crucible king been beaten by such a heavy margin. He described today's opponent as "unplayable" as Hawkins reeled off five centuries in the first session. At that stage, Stephen Hendry's record of seven tons in a best-of-19 match was under threat, but Hawkins was unable to add to his tally in taking the last three frames tonight.
The world number 12 earned a quarter-final clash with Judd Trump on Wednesday, a repeat of their Victorian Plumbing UK Championship final which Hawkins lost narrowly 10-8. He was also runner-up at the Machineseeker German Masters, losing 10-9 to Kyren Wilson, and one of the best seasons of his career could yet be capped with a trophy.
Breaks of 126, 101, 132, 131 and 134 helped Hawkins open up a 7-1 advantage in the first session. He extended his lead with a run of 57 then got the better of a scrappy tenth frame for 9-1, and a break of 59 in the next set up a 51st career ranking event quarter-final.
"I can't play much better than I did this afternoon," said 45-year-old Hawkins. "It's a shame I didn't beat Hendry's centuries record, but to beat Shaun 10-1 is unheard of. It doesn't happen often, to get in that bubble where you don't feel you are going to miss. After that session my phone was going mad, everyone was texting me saying 'well done.' But I was aware Shaun could do the same to me and the match wasn't over, I tried to play tonight as if it was 0-0.
"I will have the same mindset against Judd and try to get into that zone again. He has been doing it to everyone, it feels like ten years he has been number one, bashing everyone up. If a few frames had gone my way in a couple of finals, this could have been an unbelievable season for me. It would be great to win a trophy."
Murphy said: "It's not the first time this season, when I have come off a match having lost and not felt I have done that much wrong. I have known Barry for 35 years and that's one of the best sessions of snooker I have seen him play. He would have been ahead of anyone this afternoon. I made some mistakes, but he was unplayable."
On the other table, Ding Junhui established a 5-3 lead over defending champion Mark Williams in a match which concludes on Tuesday night. Williams is playing with contact lenses for the first time and will need to win seven of the last 11 frames to go through to the last eight and a tie with Kyren Wilson.
Three-time World Champion Williams missed a tricky final black in the opening frame, allowing Ding to snatch it. A break of 72 helped Williams go 2-1 ahead, before Ding levelled with a 63. In frame five, Williams led 41-30 when he missed the pink to centre, and Ding punished him to edge ahead. A run of 74 gave Williams the sixth, but China's Ding finished strongly with 116 and 78 as he boosted his hopes of reaching the quarter-finals of this event for the third consecutive year.