Barry Hawkins produced a smashing performance to stun Shaun Murphy in the first round of the 2025 Tour Championship on Monday in Manchester.
Hawkins established a 7-1 advantage after a remarkable opening session of the tournament in which he compiled five century breaks.
The 46 year-old played almost faultless snooker as he contributed runs of 134, 132, 131, 126, and 101 during a relentless display of power scoring.
Had Hawkins sustained that level, he could have matched or even beaten Stephen Hendry’s three-decade-old record of seven tons in a best-of-19 tie.
The Hawk couldn’t quite replicate the same standard but still managed to win all three frames of the evening session to comfortably advance.
“It’s definitely up there. I can’t play much better than that, I suppose,” world number 12 Barry Hawkins told the World Snooker Tour.
“It’s a shame I didn’t finish off the match and beat Hendry’s record – I came close. But the main thing was to win the match tonight.”
“It was hard to top that performance this afternoon. I’m just over the moon really – to beat someone like Shaun 10-1 is unheard of really.
“It’s a great feeling, and it doesn’t happen that often. It was just one of them days, getting in your own little bubble and everything comes easy.
“You don’t feel like you’re going to miss. When that comes along, you try and grab it with both hands. Tonight, it was the complete opposite.
“It’s weird how it can change so quick. I think tonight I was aware that Shaun could do the same to me, I was aware of just getting over the line no matter what.”
Hawkins will face top seed Judd Trump in the quarter-finals of the 2025 Tour Championship later this week.
The pair contested a memorable UK Championship final in York a few months ago, with Trump just about edging a 10-8 thriller at the Barbican Centre.
“It’s a different day, a different game, a different player. I’ve just got to have the same mindset,” Hawkins said.
“If I can get in that zone again, I can do the same to Judd. He’s been doing it to everybody for the last ten years.”
“He has been at number one and bashing everybody up, so I know what I’ve got to do. Hopefully, we can have another game like we did in the UK.”
Elsewhere at the Manchester Central, two other fixtures reached their halfway points.
The all-Chinese battle between Xiao Guodong and Wu Yize is locked at four frames apiece, with the latter requiring a run to the final if he is to snatch a last-gasp automatic spot at the World Championship.
Ding Junhui, meanwhile, leads reigning Tour Championship winner Mark Williams 5-3.
Those two clashes will conclude on Tuesday, with the other opening-round affair between Mark Selby and Si Jiahui also on day two’s schedule.
2025 Tour Championship Draw
Times in UTC+1
Round of 12 (bo19)
Shaun Murphy 1-10 Barry Hawkins
Xiao Guodong 4-4 Wu Yize
(Tuesday at 1pm)
Mark Selby vs Si Jiahui
(Tuesday at 1pm and 7pm)
Mark Williams 3-5 Ding Junhui
(Tuesday at 7pm)
Quarter-Finals (bo19)
Judd Trump vs Barry Hawkins
(Wednesday at 1pm and 7pm)
John Higgins vs Xiao/Wu
(Wednesday at 1pm and Thursday at 1pm)
Neil Robertson vs Selby/Si
(Wednesday at 7pm and Thursday at 7pm)
Kyren Wilson vs Williams/Ding
(Thursday at 1pm and 7pm)
Semi-Finals (bo19)
TBC vs TBC
TBC vs TBC
Matches to be played on Friday and Saturday at 1pm and 7pm. Schedule to be confirmed.
Final (bo19)
TBC vs TBC
Match to be played on Sunday, April 6th at 1pm and 7pm.
Click here for updated scores and results
(snooker.org)
Featured photo credit: WST
