Judd Trump was forced to work overtime to end his 13-year wait for a second UK Championship title after seeing off a persistent challenge from Barry Hawkins in York.
Trump was stuck in his seat as Hawkins reeled off two straight wins to cut the deficit to one frame before the world No 1 pounced on a missed red by his opponent with a 67-point break that proved just enough to seal the a 10-8 win.
Hawkins wasn’t done yet, landing one of the two snookers needed in what turned into an epic safety battle that Trump admitted had him fearing the worst. “I didn’t have fun in my seat at 9-8,” Trump said in his postgame interview. “I thought it might be the worst loss of all time, so it’s just a relief.”
His hard-fought victory marked Trump’s first UK crown since 2011. so far, and also the 30th ranking tournament victory of his increasingly illustrious career. The 35-year-old was struggling to repeat his solitary victory in the sport’s second-biggest event despite two more final appearances.
But despite never quite hitting top form, Trump pulled off enough big moments to fend off qualifier Hawkins, who battled from behind to sink Ronnie O’Sullivan in the first round and came close to repeating the feat in an increasingly dramatic finale.
Hawkins, who has already lost four Triple Crown finals, said: “If someone had said I’d get to the final I would have taken it, but once you’re in the final you want to win. I beat some great players this week but I lost to the best player in the world right now, he’s such a fantastic player and that’s no shame.”
What looked to be a key moment came early in the 15th frame when Hawkins, who took advantage of a series of errors by his opponent to keep in touch at 8-7, played a sloppy forehand and released Trump for a typically lavish a clearance of 133 which took him one frame away from victory.
But on the brink of victory, Trump was kept rooted to his seat as Hawkins responded with a gutsy 75 to pull to 9-7, followed by an equally ambitious 82 to give him hope of replicating his stunning win over O’ Sullivan.
Hawkins, who was held up until the early hours of his semi-final win over Mark Allen, was far from looking tired when he struck first in the 18th frame, but hit red midway through a break of 20 and gave Trump his chance to do what proved to be a key breakthrough.
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Trump looked set to take command in the early stages of the final as he reeled off three straight frames to take a 5-2 lead. But a superb 81 in the next left Hawkins in touch at the end of the afternoon session and that would set the narrative for the evening, with both players showing flashes of brilliance and errors aplenty.
“It was such a tough game and the way Barry fought today, given what happened yesterday, was really amazing, so fair play,” Trump said. “He had a chance to equalize and the game could have changed and even towards the end I was giving him half chances and he cleared every time.
“It’s been 13 years, it’s not easy to win these races. I’ve played brilliantly many times and still haven’t made it, so to do it the way I did, with probably one of the toughest draws of all time, I’m so proud of myself.”
