Players Championship 2022 snooker: Barry Hawkins beats Yan Bingtao in final-frame decider to reach semi-finals

Published 10/02/2022 at 16:55 GMT

Barry Hawkins will face Ricky Walden in the semi-finals of the 2022 Players Championship after winning a high-quality contest against Yan Bingtao. Hawkins won the last two frames of the match to move into the last four with a 6-5 win. Ronnie O'Sullivan faces Neil Robertson in the third semi-final on Thursday evening, with the winner facing Jimmy Robertson or John Higgins.

Barry Hawkins | Snooker | ESP Player Feature

Image credit: Getty Images

Barry Hawkins reached the semi-finals of the Players Championship after winning a final-frame decider against Yan Bingtao.

Hawkins was outscored by Yan, who made three century breaks of 139, 132 and 103, but won the last two frames in a row to improve his head-to-head record against the 2021 Masters champion to 4-0.

Hawkins will next face Ricky Walden, who beat Mark Williams 6-5 on Wednesday.

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Yan made a dazzling start with back-to-back breaks of 139 and 103 opening up a 2-0 lead.

But Hawkins hit back with three half-century breaks in a row – 86, 77 and 95 – to swing the match around.

Yan won the sixth frame to level the match and then rattled off a 98 break to move 4-3 ahead.

Yan was presented with an opening in the next frame after Hawkins left a red over the corner pocket, but a few shots later he missed the black and potted the white.

Hawkins couldn’t quite wrap up the frame in one visit as he let Yan return at 60-1 behind, with only 59 points left on the table. However, a long red from Hawkins sealed the frame.

Yan took advantage of a loose safety shot from Hawkins to knock in a brilliant 132 break and move one frame from victory.

Yan made an excellent long red to start the 10th frame but then missed a black to the middle and Hawkins took full advantage with a 126 break.

A wayward attempt at a long red from Yan gave Hawkins an opening in the final frame and he made a fine break to secure the win.

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