European Masters title the perfect response for humble Barry Hawkins after Crucible heartbreak
/dnl.eurosport.com/sd/img/placeholder/eurosport_logo_1x1.png){kind=logo}
Published 28/08/2023 at 08:58 GMT
After missing out on the 2023 Snooker World Championships at the Crucible having dropped out of the world's top 16 Barry Hawkins got the 2023-24 snooker season off to the perfect start by beating a host of big names on his way to the European Masters title. In his latest column Dave Hendon looks at the tournament and the career of Hawkins as a whole.
Hawkins celebrates his European Masters win over Trump
It is safe to assume the Hawkins household was not the happiest place in Britain on April 15 this year.
The eyes of the snooker world were fixed on the Crucible that spring morning as the 17-day green baize marathon got underway but, for the first time since 2005, Barry Hawkins was not there. He had dropped out of the top 16 and therefore forced to go to the qualifiers for the World Championship. Jak Jones beat him 10-8 and thus ended his participation in the game’s showpiece event before most people realised it had started.
Hawkins was a week from turning 44 and at a career crossroads. For a player often described as going through tournaments under the radar he was in danger of disappearing from view entirely.
So to win the European Masters with well-earned victories over Luca Brecel, Mark Selby and Judd Trump is a stunning reversal of fortunes for a player too often consigned to the role of nearly man.
His last ranking title success had come in February 2017 and Hawkins had lost in four finals since. On each occasion he was beaten by a big-hitter – John Higgins, Selby, Neil Robertson and Kyren Wilson – adding to the impression that, good as he is, he is not quite on the level of snooker’s very best.
/origin-imgresizer.eurosport.com/2023/08/27/3771598-76721893-2560-1440.jpg)
Did he mean it? Hawkins plays a cannon to pot a red off a red against Trump
Hawkins has beaten everyone in the game at some point, but doing so in the title match, with the trophy on the line, has been a struggle. Ronnie O’Sullivan has beaten him in the finals of the World Championship, Masters and Shanghai Masters. Robertson defeated him in a second Masters final. In the European Masters final 12 months ago he was very disappointing in losing 9-3 to Wilson.
A year on, Trump may not have been at his brilliant best but still applied significant pressure from 7-3 down to trail just 7-6. It was a tense atmosphere in Nuremberg with a large, appreciative crowd engrossed in the action. And this time, Hawkins did not falter. This is surely the most satisfying win of his career.
In the early part of his time on the tour he reached four semi-finals but it was not until the Barry Hearn takeover of World Snooker in 2010 that he truly found his feet. With the increased number of tournaments, he suddenly had week-in, week-out snooker to play and it undoubtedly helped his game improve.
Hawkins won his first ranking title at the 2012 Australian Open in Bendigo and, such was his consistency, he went on to play more matches than any other player that season, eventually losing to the man who had played the least – O’Sullivan – in the World Championship final.
Still, he had pushed O’Sullivan to produce his best and put himself firmly on the snooker map, forcing opponents to treat him with more respect and view him as a major threat.
When Hawkins won the Players Championship the following year he climbed to fourth in the world rankings. He reached the semi-finals at the Crucible four times between 2014 and 2018 and compiled five centuries in the final of the 2017 World Grand Prix, which became ranking title no. 3.
The fact is has taken so long to win his fourth perhaps illustrates how competitive the game is but some have argued that Hawkins has lacked a killer instinct and maybe some self-belief in big matches.
/origin-imgresizer.eurosport.com/2023/08/26/3770993-76709793-2560-1440.jpg)
Hawkins makes century break in second frame of European Masters semi-final against Selby
In sport, niceness is not an asset. The great champions tend to have a ruthless streak, part of which involves the desire to crush an opponent’s spirit. This is not how anyone pictures the humble Hawkins, as down to earth a character as it is possible to find.
But his game is strong in all areas. At the Masters in January he had Mark Allen, the player of the season, perennially nailed to the baulk cushion during a masterclass in safety play which was the cornerstone of his 6-0 victory.
Hawkins can score heavily. He is one of only 15 players to have made at least 400 century breaks in competition. He is also very competent with the rest and especially adept at potting when the cue ball is close to a cushion.
He now leads Trump 8-7 in their personal head-to-head and is only 11-10 adrift of Selby. He is often described as ‘under-rated’ but not by his fellow players, who recognise his quality having seen it firsthand.
The spin-offs for his German triumph are considerable. Hawkins immediately returns to the top 16 and gains entry to the prestigious Champion of Champions as well as the first two Players Series events. He takes an early lead in the race for the £150,000 European Series bonus prize.
More than any of that, though, to win another title after all this time, to prove to himself and everyone else in the game that he still has what it takes, is what will please him most.
Barry Hawkins is not the sort to talk himself up or crow about his achievements. It is up to others, then, to celebrate him for what he is: a mighty fine player who this time around did not fall short in the pressure cooker atmosphere of a major final.
- -
Stream top snooker action, including the World Championship live on discovery+, the Eurosport app and at eurosport.com
Scan me
Related Topics
Share this article
Advertisement
Advertisement