Barry Hawkins rounded off a superb 13-9 victory over Mark Williams to make the quarter-finals of the World Snooker Championship for the first time in eight years.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The Hawk enjoyed a tremendous record at the Theatre of Dreams between 2013 and 2018. Hawkins won more matches in snooker’s biggest event than anyone else during that period. He was runner-up to Ronnie O’Sullivan in 2013 and reached a further four semi-finals and one quarter-final. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
However, Englishman Hawkins has only won three matches in the final stages since 2019 and he’s exited after the first round in the last three years. An emphatic opening 10-4 win over Matthew Stevens this week brought the 47-year-old’s losing streak to an end. Now he will face Mark Allen for a return to the single table set up, as he continues his bid for a maiden world title.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Hawkins’ return to form in Sheffield comes having captured his fifth ranking event title earlier this year. He beat Jack Lisowski 9-5 in the Welsh Open final to capture the Ray Reardon Trophy for the first time. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Three-time World Champion Williams was unable to hit the heights of 12 months ago, which saw him make a fifth world final aged 50. The now 51-year-old lost out on that occasion to Zhao Xintong, who became Asia’s first Crucible king. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
When play got underway this evening, all four players entering the Crucible arena were afforded an epic reception. There was a standing ovation with all three of the Class of 92 in action, with O’Sullivan facing John Higgins on the other table. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Hawkins held a healthy 10-6 advantage as play got underway, but Williams immediately cut into that and reduced the gap to three. It didn’t take long for the relentless Hawkins to hit back and a run of 85 in frame 18 made it 11-7. The following two frames were traded and they headed in for the interval with Hawkins one away at 12-8. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
When play resumed, Williams floated in a fearless long range red and crafted 70 to reduce his arrears. The Welshman had an opportunity to pull within two frames in the 22nd, but a missed cut back red meant he could only muster 25. Hawkins pounced and got over the line to make his seventh Crucible quarter-final. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
“To come here, play like that and beat him at the Crucible is a special result for me,” said an elated Hawkins.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
“I’ve beaten him the last couple of times we’ve played now. I think in the past I had too much respect for him. I used to crumble against those sorts of players. I think in the last four or five years I’ve had more belief in myself and that has made the difference in the last few days. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
“It was an amazing reception. I could see on the screen before I walked out that there was already a standing ovation. They weren’t standing for me, they were standing for the Class of 92. When I walked out, what a feeling, it is the best place to play when it is like that.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Williams said: “The second session was probably where I lost it. The first session was good and so was the last session. I think Barry was really good all the way through and he was by far the better player.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
“I think that was the best reception I’ve ever had at the Crucible. They were on their feet before even Barry went out. It was unbelievable.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Mark Allen scored his first win over Kyren Wilson in four years, prevailing 13-9 to make the quarter-finals.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Victory keeps the Pistol in the hunt for achieving his lifetime ambition of becoming World Champion. The former Masters and UK Championship winner just needs a Crucible triumph to complete the Triple Crown set. World number 12 Allen made the semi-finals here at the Theatre of Dreams in 2009 and 2023, but is still waiting for a maiden final appearance.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Northern Irishman Allen rallied with six in a row to beat Zhang Anda 10-6 in the opening round, which he had trailed 5-2. This time Allen assumed the role of front runner as Wilson battled to reel him in. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Allen had held a 5-0 advantage during the opening session. However, world number two Wilson hit back with six on the bounce to move 6-5 in front during the second session. Eventually Allen regained the initiative and ended 9-7 in front coming into this morning’s finale. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
When play got underway, they traded the first two frames with 78 breaks to leave Allen 10-8 ahead. A break of 61 in the 19th helped 40-year-old Allen further ahead, before 2024 World Champion Wilson took the last before the interval to trail 11-9. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
When play resumed, Allen controlled the 21st frame and then pinched the 22nd on the pink to make the quarters for the fifth time in his career. He will face either Mark Williams or Barry Hawkins in the last eight. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
“I am happy to win. Any win here is a good one and especially over someone of Kyren’s class. He is world number two for a reason. The match had a bit of everything. I started well to go 5-0, but it was a little flattering,” said world number 12 Allen. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
“I’ve got lots of confidence to take into the next round. I finished that match really well. I’d love to score a little bit better. It isn’t a lot of fun grinding matches out, but the biggest positive I can take is that I’m in the quarter-finals of the World Championship without getting out of second gear. There’s lots more to come.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
“I don’t feel great in my game but I’m probably too hard on myself. If I started listening to other people like pundits and other players I think I would feel a bit better. I’m not close to my best yet but I think that is exciting as well. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
“This is the World Championship. You don’t expect it to be easy. The strength in depth is better than it has ever been. There are no easy matches and I don’t want there to be. You want to play the best and really challenge yourself.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Wilson said: “Any loss here is disappointing. I came here to try and win the tournament. Thankfully my name is on that beautiful trophy so I have ticked that box. Any time you go out is disappointing though. It was frustrating but I gave it my all.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n
On the other table, Scottish Open champion Chris Wakelin rallied from 4-1 down to end locked level at 4-4 with Australia’s Neil Robertson after the first session of their second round meeting. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
This is a repeat of a clash between the pair in the first round of last year’s World Championship. On that occasion it was Wakelin, playing as a qualifier, who sprung a shock on 2010 Crucible winner Robertson. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
After falling 4-1 down this morning, Englishman Wakelin took the last three of the session with a top score of 77 to end all square. They return for their second of three sessions tomorrow afternoon at 2:30pm.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
World Champion Zhao Xintong holds a slender 9-7 advantage over his iconic Chinese compatriot Ding Junhui ahead of a blockbuster concluding session of their second round encounter.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
This match is anticipated to be one of the most watched in snooker history, as two trailblazers for Chinese snooker lock horns. Junhui inspired a nation when he made his breakthrough with victory over Stephen Hendry in the 2005 China Open final, while Xintong provided the high point of a country-wide fascination in snooker with his 18-12 win over Mark Williams in the 2025 world final.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n
29-year-old Xintong is aiming to break the Crucible Curse, which has seen every first time World Champion fail to defend their title the following year at the Theatre of Dreams.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
After Xintong’s triumph 12 months ago, Junhui is now bidding to become his country’s second ever World Championship winner.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n
They came into the session locked together at 4-4. A break of 77 gave Xintong the first frame of the day, before Junhui restored parity at 5-5 after taking the next on the black.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Three on the bounce for Xintong, aided by runs of 115 and 77, then put him in charge of proceedings at 8-5. However, 39-year-old Junhui made a pair of 69 breaks on his way to two of the last three frames to remain in touch at 9-7 behind. They return to play this best of 25 encounter to a conclusion tomorrow morning at 10am.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n
On the other table, world number one Judd Trump and Iranian number one Hossein Vafaei ended an intriguing session level at 4-4. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Both players negotiated their opening round matches in comfortable fashion, with Trump beating Gary Wilson 10-5 and Vafaei defeating Si Jiahui 10-3. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Breaks of 70, 57, 66 and 55 helped Vafaei to establish a 4-3 lead this afternoon, but Trump ended with a sublime 115 to draw level. They return tomorrow afternoon at 2:30pm.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Meanwhile, O’Sullivan produced a superb display to open up a 6-2 lead over his old rival Higgins.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It was the 73rd meeting between the illustrious pair, with Higgins having previously won 33 and O’Sullivan 39. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
The Rocket looked the more comfortable this evening and made breaks of 86, 82, 137, 95 and 76 during the session. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Barry Hawkins rounded off a superb 13-9 victory over Mark Williams to make the quarter-finals of the World<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":12168,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_uf_show_specific_survey":0,"_uf_disable_surveys":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[378],"class_list":["post-12167","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-newsbeat","tag-snooker"],"aioseo_notices":[],"featured_image_urls":{"full":["https:\/\/www.infinitysport.asia\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/Barry-Hawkins.jpg",1920,1387,false],"thumbnail":["https:\/\/www.infinitysport.asia\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/Barry-Hawkins-150x150.jpg",150,150,true],"medium":["https:\/\/www.infinitysport.asia\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/Barry-Hawkins-300x217.jpg",300,217,true],"medium_large":["https:\/\/www.infinitysport.asia\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/Barry-Hawkins-768x555.jpg",640,463,true],"large":["https:\/\/www.infinitysport.asia\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/Barry-Hawkins-1024x740.jpg",640,463,true],"1536x1536":["https:\/\/www.infinitysport.asia\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/Barry-Hawkins-1536x1110.jpg",1536,1110,true],"2048x2048":["https:\/\/www.infinitysport.asia\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/Barry-Hawkins.jpg",1920,1387,false],"morenews-large":["https:\/\/www.infinitysport.asia\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/Barry-Hawkins-825x575.jpg",825,575,true],"morenews-medium":["https:\/\/www.infinitysport.asia\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/Barry-Hawkins-590x410.jpg",590,410,true]},"author_info":{"info":["admin"]},"category_info":"Newsbeat<\/a>","tag_info":"Newsbeat","comment_count":"0","jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.infinitysport.asia\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/Barry-Hawkins.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.infinitysport.asia\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12167","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.infinitysport.asia\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.infinitysport.asia\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.infinitysport.asia\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.infinitysport.asia\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=12167"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.infinitysport.asia\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12167\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":12169,"href":"https:\/\/www.infinitysport.asia\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12167\/revisions\/12169"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.infinitysport.asia\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/12168"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.infinitysport.asia\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=12167"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.infinitysport.asia\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=12167"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.infinitysport.asia\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=12167"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}