It’s fair to say that Barry Hawkins was not particularly fancied when the Masters got underway at Alexandra Palace. Yes, he had made the semi-finals of the UK Championship in December, but the truth is that he played pretty poorly throughout that tournament, benefitting from the draw opening up kindly for him before being trounced 6-1 by eventual winner Zhao Xintong in the last four.
Successive first-round exits at the Scottish Open and World Grand Prix left Hawkins with little expectations heading into the Masters, but it was a different beast who took to the arena in North London.
A 6-2 dismantling of Shaun Murphy was followed by a 6-1 win over world champion Mark Selby. Then, a thrilling 6-5 triumph over Judd Trump in the semi-final set up a final with Neil Robertson, where Hawkins fell just short in a 10-4 defeat.
As disappointing as his performance in the final was, it was still a tremendous week for Hawkins overall, and he may have convinced himself that he still has the ability to compete with the very best players in the sport. Beating established champions like Murphy, Selby and Trump in such a big tournament can only inspire confidence in the 42-year-old, and it will be interesting to see how the result boosts his standing in the Betfair snooker betting odds for the rest of the season.
This run to the final of the Masters is the latest step on a steady Hawkins revival which has been ongoing since the early part of 2021. Having been in the doldrums for a couple of years, a decline which entered its nadir when the Ditton man dropped out of the world’s top 16 for the first time in eight years, Hawkins posted a few strong results —reaching the semi-finals of the German Masters, the Players Championship and the Tour Championship towards the end of last season.
Now, having reached the semis in York (irrespective of his performance levels in that event) and the showpiece occasion at Alexandra Palace, there is reason for optimism.
There are plenty of big tournaments still to come this season, culminating in the World Championship at Sheffield in April. Hawkins boasts a strong record at the Crucible, with four semi-final appearances complementing his runner-up medal from 2013, although his last three outings there have ended in second-round exits.
Having posted impressive results in the first two ‘Triple Crown’ events of the season, Hawkins will be quietly confident that he can go Sheffield and rediscover the form that saw him become a Crucible specialist in the mid-2010s. His style of play is perfectly suited to the long-format matches of the World Championship, and while his unassuming nature means he’ll never be a top favourite in the snooker betting tips today, Hawkins will have gained a lot of confidence from beating some of the world’s best at the Masters.
Interestingly, there was no real sense of devastation after Hawkins lost to Robertson in the Masters final. He accepted that he hadn’t played well enough on the day, but despite his defeat he seemed reinvigorated, his zest for the sport renewed after playing all week in one of the most fervent atmospheres ever seen at a snooker venue.
Many look at Hawkins as a nearly man, someone who has been in all the big finals but has never quite been able to get over the line — always the bridesmaid, never the bride. Well, perhaps the best is still to come for ‘the Hawk’, who has given us a timely reminder that he still has all the attributes to dine at snooker’s top table.
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