Judd Trump was forced into overtime to end his 13-year wait for a second British Championship title after fending off a persistent challenge from Barry Hawkins at York.
Trump remained slumped in his seat as Hawkins won two in a row to cut the gap to one frame, but the world No. 1-ranked Hawkins stormed his opponent's Red Miss with a break of 67 to win 10-8. It has been proven that this is sufficient to confirm the
Hawkins wasn't quite done yet, getting one of the two snookers needed in what turned out to be an epic safety battle, but Trump feared the worst. , he admitted. “I didn't enjoy sitting there with 9 wins and 8 losses,” Trump said in an interview after the game. “I thought this could be the worst loss ever, so it was pure relief.”
His hard-fought victory was Trump's first British title win since 2011 and his 30th win in a ranking tournament in an increasingly illustrious career. The 35-year-old struggled to repeat his only victory in the sport's second-biggest tournament despite reaching two more finals.
But despite never hitting his best form, Trump pulled off enough big moments to fend off qualifier Hawkins, who fought back with a comeback to sink Ronnie O'Sullivan in the opener. He came close to repeating that feat in an increasingly dramatic finale.
Hawkins, who has lost four Triple Crown finals, said: “If someone had told me I was going to the final, I would have taken it, but once you get to the final, you want to win.'' he said. We beat some great players this week, but we lost to the best player in the world right now. He's a great player and there's no shame in that. ”
In what appeared to be a decisive moment, Hawkins, who had taken advantage of a series of mistakes by his opponent to hold an 8-7 lead, hit a sloppy safety shot early in the 15th frame that led to Trump. It was when he allowed a typically flashy 133 clearance. This left him one frame away from victory.
But on the verge of victory, Trump remained in his chair while Hawkins responded with a brave 75 to pull back 9-7 and an equally ambitious 82 gave him hope of repeating his stunning victory over O'Sullivan.
Hawkins, who defeated Mark Allen in the semi-finals, was able to stay in the game until the early hours, but he looked far from fatigue when he took the lead in the 18th frame, but with a break at 20, he was red down the middle. It gave Trump victory. His chance turned out to be an important break.
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Trump appeared to be in control early in the final, but reeled in three consecutive frames to build a 5-2 lead. But another great 81 from Hawkins left him in touch at the end of the afternoon session, setting the tone for a night filled with sparkles but misses from both players.
“It was a very tough game. Considering what happened yesterday, the way Barry fought today was just incredible and very fair play,” Trump said. “He had chances to equalize, the game could have changed and even towards the end I left him with half a chance and he cleared every time.
“It's been 13 years and it's not easy to win these events. I've played great many times and still come up short, so in probably one of the toughest draws in history, this I'm very proud of the way I played.”
