Barry Hawkins (Photo by DerHexer)
Barry Hawkins, who knocked Shaun Murphy and Judd Trump out of the Tour Championship last year, scored another impressive victory in Manchester as he came from 8-7 down to beat Thepchaiya Un-Nooh 10-8 to reach the quarter-finals.
Un-Nooh enjoyed the best moment of his career just nine days ago when he beat Ronnie O’Sullivan in the final of the World Open, making a 147 to boot. That earned him a place in this week’s elite 12-man tournament but the Thai couldn’t keep his winning streak going, despite coming from 5-3 down in the second session to lead 8-7. The result also ends Un-Nooh’s hopes of being a top 16 seed for the Crucible, and Ding Junhui hangs on to that status.
Welsh Open champion Hawkins came good at the business end, setting up a clash with Neil Robertson which starts on Wednesday afternoon. The Londoner was a semi-finalist last year and also reached the last four in 2021.
Trailing 5-3 overnight, Un-Nooh won the opening frame today on the colours before Hawkins made a break of 101 for 6-4. World number 11 Hawkins looked favourite in frame 11 when he laid a tough snooker on the yellow, trailing 50-48, but Un-Nooh enjoyed an outrageous fluke on the yellow, flicking it into a baulk corner, and cleared to halve his deficit.
Un-Nooh then dominated the next two with top runs of 48 and 62 to lead 7-6. And he had a chance to extend his advantage but under-cut a fiddly short range red to a centre pocket on 50 and his opponent punished him with a 72 clearance.
Un-Nooh’s run of 66 helped him regain the lead and he was on 48 in frame 16 when he missed a straight-forward red to a top corner, and again Hawkins took advantage with 68 for 8-8. The 17th came down to the last two reds and a fine long pot from Hawkins to a baulk corner edged him in front. He took control of the next with a break of 63 and eventually sealed the result on the colours.
“I don’t know how to sum up that game, one minute Thepchaiya looked like he was going to start playing well and had the balls at his mercy, then all of a sudden I was back at the table,” said Hawkins. “If he goes on one he is near enough unstoppable, but then he misses balls you don’t expect him to miss, which can be off-putting.
“I nicked quite a few frames. I didn’t feel I played great, I was just battling away. It was getting twitchy at the end so it’s a great win. I have had good runs in this event, especially as it’s such a tough event just to win matches in, given the players who qualify. Against Neil I will have to make sure I don’t miss those easy balls, because he will punish me.”
Hawkins was suffering from a back injury last month which forced him to pull out of the World Open, but added: “It feels ok now, it’s just a bit tight in the mornings but it doesn’t affect me playing at all.”
On the other table, defending champion John Higgins came from 2-0 down to take a 6-2 lead over Mark Williams before wrapping it up 10-8.
Williams, who won this event in 2024, started strongly with runs of 59 and 121 to take the first two frames. But fellow ‘Class of 92’ member Higgins won the next six in a row with top breaks of 64 and 73.
With the results of the matches yesterday, the seeded players at the Crucible will be Zhao Xintong, Judd Trump, Kyren Wilson, Neil Robertson, John Higgins, Mark Williams, Mark Selby, Shaun Murphy, Xiao Guodong, Wu Yize, Barry Hawkins, Ronnie O’Sullivan, Chris Wakelin, Mark Allen, Si Jiahui and Ding Junhui.
