Judd Trump has won the UK Championship for a second time after beating Barry Hawkins 10-8 in a brilliant final in York on Sunday.
The two players put on a great show at the Barbican, having both come through extremely tough draws to get to the final.
Trump has beaten Neil Robertson, John Higgins, Zhang Anda and world champion Kyren Wilson to reach the showpiece, while Hawkins has ousted Ronnie O’Sullivan, Dave Gilbert, Shaun Murphy and Mark Allen.
The two finalists settled well, with a break of 73 from Trump in the opening frame followed by a 116 from Hawkins in the next.
The afternoon session finished 5-3 in Trump’s favour, with the world number one in control as he made a 102 along the way, but Hawkins keeping his hopes very much alive with an 81 in the final eighth frame.
Trump kept Hawkins at arms length early in the evening session and moved into a 9-6 lead, looking set to cruise to the finish line before the Hawk got his claws into him again.
Nerveless breaks of 75 and 82 from Hawkins put him back within one frame and the final was alive once again.
However, a missed red when he had a chance in the 18th gave Trump the chance he was looking for and he made no mistake, knocking in another half-century to get his hands on the trophy 13 years after his previous UK title, although Hawkins had him worried as he played on for snookers and made things very tense.
It was a marvellous effort from the Hawk in defeat, having not finished his gruelling semi-final against Mark Allen until just before 1am on Sunday.
The world number one prevails, though, and cements his place as the Player of the Season so far.
The champion pockets £250,000 for his efforts in York while Hawkins wins £100,000 for finishing runner-up.
Hawkins’ search for a first Triple Crown title goes on while Trump takes his tally to five, with two UKs, two Masters and one World Championship to his name.
Trump also won the first ever Saudi Arabia Masters earlier this season, which was dubbed ‘The Fourth Major’ due to its enormous £500,000 top prize.
More to follow…
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