Mark Selby scrapes past Barry Hawkins in UK Championship thriller
Selby and Hawkins played out a dramatic last-16 clash in York
Mark Selby scraped through to the UK Championship quarter-finals after edging out Barry Hawkins 6-5 in a late-night thriller in York.
The Jester was taken the distance by his good friend, who recovered from 5-3 down to force a decider, but held his nerve to prevail on the final pink at the York Barbican Centre.
Two-time champion Selby subsequently booked his place in only a second quarter-final at this event since winning his second title in 2016.
There, he will play Judd Trump, who endured no such difficulties as he whitewashed Jamie Jones 6-0.
Selby was beaten 6-4 by Hawkins when they met in the European Masters semi-finals in August, with the Hawk going on to lift the trophy in Nuremberg.
But he was quick out of the blocks with a magnificent 142 total clearance, before further runs of 52 and 101 put him 3-1 to the good at the interval.
The next four frames were shared as Hawkins’ 133 and 57 were cancelled out by runs of 76 and 70 by Selby, who stood one frame from victory at 5-3 up.
The Hawk rallied with breaks of 84 and 88 to force a decider, in which he had a great opportunity to clear for frame and match after his opponent left the final red near the right corner.
However, it went begging as Hawkins snookered himself on the blue while attempting to screw back from the brown.
It would prove costly as Selby potted a tremendous blue while bridging awkwardly over the black, before knocking in the pink with the rest to seal a dramatic victory.
That set up a mouth-watering last-eight clash with Trump, who hit breaks of 100, 59 and 51 as he reeled off six frames without reply against Jones.
Elsewhere, Mark Williams hit three centuries as he recovered from a slow start to see off compatriot Jamie Clarke 6-4.
The two-time champion trailed 2-0 after Clarke had a 128, but won the next five frames with runs of 138 and 107 along the way, before eventually securing victory with 100.
Next up for him is a meeting with Ding Junhui, who also recorded three tons as he saw off Tom Ford.
The three-time winner of this event hit breaks of 126, 110 and 106 on the way to prevailing a 6-3 winner.
WATCH ALL UK CHAMPIONSHIP MATCHES STREAMED LIVE
18+ | T&Cs Apply | Geo restrictions may apply | Be Gamble Aware
UK Championship 2023 Day Five Results
Wednesday November 29
Last 16
1pm
Ding Junhui 6-3 Tom Ford
Judd Trump 6-0 Jamie Jones
7pm
Mark Williams 6-4 Jamie Clarke
Mark Selby 6-5 Barry Hawkins