Ronnie O’Sullivan crashed out on the opening day of the UK Championship with a 6-4 defeat by Barry Hawkins in York. Hawkins reeled off four frames in a row to haul back a 4-2 deficit and clinch only his third win over O’Sullivan, the defending champion, in 21 career attempts.
It was a remarkable revival by the 45-year-old Hawkins, who compiled four consecutive half-centuries that left the eight-time champion stuck in his seat for three straight frames.
“I just think Barry played a good match and deserved his win, so you have to give all credit to him,” said a clearly disappointed O’Sullivan. “He looked strong and took his chances. I’m all right about it and I’m pretty much used to it. You just have to roll with it. It is what it is.”
O’Sullivan had started in style with two century breaks to establish a 3-1 interval lead, and looked all set to extend his dominant record over his rival, who had not beaten him since the 2016 world championships.
There had been no sign of O’Sullivan’s impending demise when he rifled in a long red in the opening frame which he took in emphatic fashion with a break of 128. But the top seed was unable to punish Hawkins for a missed pink to the middle in the next and a break of 57 proved enough for the Kent man to level the match at 1-1.
Hawkins missed two early chances in the next as he fell behind, before O’Sullivan compiled his second century, a 114 which swept him into the interval with an ominous 3-1 advantage. Hawkins clawed back to within a single frame but when he missed an easy red on 17 in the next, it looked like his chance of causing a rare upset had disappeared.
Instead, a display of petulance by O’Sullivan, when he smashed his fist on to the table after missing a red to the middle early in the seventh frame, proved the turning point. A 73 clearance by Hawkins reduced the deficit again and breaks of 75 and 88 without reply completed his dramatic turnaround and took him to the verge of victory.
Hawkins, the world No 20, extended his run by building a break of 60 in the next and when O’Sullivan failed to take a chance when his opponent ran out of position, his title defence was all but over.
“It’s been eight years since I beat him so it’s a massive win for me,” said Hawkins. “So many times I’ve been in this position against him and I’ve just crumbled, but I didn’t crumble today. I’m so proud of the way I stood up and took it the way I did. Hopefully it will give me more confidence.”
In the afternoon’s other match, Shaun Murphy held his nerve to beat China’s Zhao Xintong. Murphy led 3-0 but lost the next three frames. The match went to 5-5, with Murphy squeezing through to the last 16.
Zhao was playing in his first ranking tournament after a 20-month ban for his part in a match-fixing scandal. Playing as an amateur, he came through four qualifying rounds to reach the tournament in York, which he won in 2021.
“He is a wonderful, beautiful player to watch, so I’m absolutely over the moon to get through,” said Murphy. “Bar Neil Robertson, he was the one [of the qualifiers] everyone wanted to avoid. To get him in the last 32 was as tough a draw as I could’ve got.”
In the evening, Ding Junhui won a tense final frame to see off Robert Milkins 6-5. Ding led but gave Milkins a chance, only for the Englishman to miss a relatively easy yellow to let the three-time UK champion back in. Ding will face Murphy in the last 16.
David Gilbert pulled off a surprise with an impressive 6-4 victory over the in-form Xiao Guodong. Xiao has risen into the world top 16 after winning the Wuhan Open in October and a string of other good results. He was also runner-up to Mark Williams in the Champion of Champions, a prestigious non-ranking tournament, a week ago, but Gilbert, twice a world championship semi-finalist, proved too good for him and will now meet Hawkins in the next round.