Barry Hawkins swoops to a magical maximum break at the UK Championship
Barry Hawkins is congratulated by Gerard Greene (credit:Simon Cooper/PA Images)
Barry Hawkins ended the three-year wait for a maximum break at the UK Championship as he produced perfection on his way to victory over Gerard Greene in Round One on Wednesday.
World number ten Hawkins achieved snooker’s holy grail in the fourth frame of his clash with Northern Ireland’s Greene, which he went on to win 6-2.
The 147 marked the third of his career and the fourth of the season in total, putting him in line for the £15,000 tournament high break prize providing the feat is not equalled for the remainder of the competition.
The break also triggers a £10,000 donation from tournament sponsors Betway to the Jessie May Children’s Hospice at Home charity.
Hawkins had made breaks of 91, 68 and 80 in the first three frames and went on to seal a comfortable victory for a place in the Last 64 – where he will face either Alan McManus or Elliot Slessor.
If there are a further 16 maximums during the season then the players to make the 147s will share a huge £1 million bonus prize fund.
Elsewhere, two-time UK Champion Mark Williams safely overcame Scotland’s Fraser Patrick 6-2 with top breaks of 133 and 124, while Kyren Wilson stormed into the Second Round after a 6-0 whitewash of debutant Riley Parsons with top breaks of 92, 71, 71 an 92.
Two-time UK Champion Mark Selby got off to a flier as he whitewashed Andy Hicks 6-0 with top breaks of 134 and 114, while 2008 UK Championship runner-up Marco Fu booked his place in the Last 64 courtesy of a 6-3 win over Craig Steadman with breaks of 92, 67, 93, 117 and 85.
Selby eases into Round Two (Photo by PA Images)
Former World Champion Graeme Dott closes out a 6-1 rout of Barry Pinches with a clinical break of 103, as 2004 UK Champion Stephen Maguire secures his spot in the Second Round with a hard-fought 6-4 victory over Billy Joe Castle.
Two-time UK Champion Ding Junhui safely saw off Welsh cueist Duane Jones with high breaks of 73, 103, 77 and 92, while 2006 champion Peter Ebdon needed an unscheduled second session to edge out John Astley in a deciding frame.
Louis Heathcote recovered from 3-0 and 5-2 down to mark a dream UK Championship debut with a 6-5 win over Iran’s Hossein Vafaei, as Ian Burns pulled off an emphatic 6-0 whitewash of Indian Open champion Matthew Selt with the aid of breaks of 103, 70, 82 and 66.
Martin Gould gained a much-needed 6-4 win over Alfie Burden in his quest to climb back up the rankings, while 2017 UK semi-finalist Ryan Day overcame Iran’s Soheil Vahedi 6-3 with a top break of 127.
World Championship semi-finalist Gary Wilson made a break of 103 in the first frame of an eventual 6-3 defeat of Bai Langning, while former Shoot-Out winner Michael Georgiou battled past Oliver Lines 6-4.
Northern Ireland’s Jordan Brown recorded an impressive 6-2 victory over Mark Joyce, as Stuart Carrington defeated two-time semi-finalist James Wattana 6-3 win high breaks of 68, 66, 81 and 65.
Betway UK Championship 2019 Results
Wednesday November 27
Round One
Morning Session
Ding Junhui 6-2 Duane Jones
Marco Fu 6-3 Craig Steadman
Stuart Carrington 6-3 James Wattana
Lyu Haotian 6-1 Andy Lee
Stephen Maguire 6-4 Billy Joe Castle
Graeme Dott 6-1 Barry Pinches
Andrew Higginson 4-6 Jak Jones
Sunny Akani 6-4 Lee Walker
Afternoon Session
Michael Georgiou 6-4 Oliver Lines
Matthew Selt 0-6 Ian Burns
Martin Gould 6-4 Alfie Burden
Peter Ebdon 6-5 John Astley
Yuan SiJun 6-5 Hammad Miah
Ryan Day 6-3 Soheil Vahedi
Mark Selby 6-0 Andy Hicks
Barry Hawkins 6-2 Gerard Greene – *Hawkins makes a maximum break*
Evening Session
Kyren Wilson 6-0 Riley Parsons
Mark Williams 6-2 Fraser Patrick
Mark Davis 6-5 Si Jiahui
Mark Joyce 2-6 Jordan Brown
Ricky Walden 6-3 Xu Si
Scott Donaldson 6-1 Chen Zifan
Gary Wilson 6-3 Bai Langning
Hossein Vafaei 5-6 Louis Heathcote