Judd Trump was forced to work overtime to end his 13-year wait for a second UK Championship title after squeezing past the dogged challenge of Barry Hawkins in York.
Trump was stuck in his seat as Hawkins won two in a row to reduce the deficit to a single frame before the world number one pounced on a missed red from his opponent with a 67 break that proved just enough to seal a 10-8 win.
Hawkins was still not quite done, getting one of two snookers required in what turned into an epic safety battle that Trump admitted left him fearing the worst.
“I wasn’t enjoying myself in my seat at 9-8,” Trump admitted in his post-match interview. “I was thinking this could be the worst loss of all time, so it’s just pure relief.”
His hard-fought victory marked Trump’s first UK crown since 2011 and also the 30th ranking tournament win of his increasingly illustrious career.
The 35-year-old had struggled to replicate his solitary win in the sport’s second biggest tournament, despite two further final appearances.
But despite never quite hitting top form, Trump pulled out enough big moments to repel qualifier Hawkins, who had fought back from behind to sink Ronnie O’Sullivan in the opening round and came close to repeating the feat in an increasingly dramatic finale.
Hawkins, who has now lost in four ‘triple crown’ finals, admitted: “If someone had said I’d get to the final I’d have taken it, but once you’re in the final you want to win.
“I’ve beaten some great players this week but I’ve lost to the best player in the world at the moment, he’s such a fantastic player and it’s no disgrace.”
What looked like the pivotal moment came early in the 15th frame when Hawkins, who had capitalised on a series of Trump errors to keep in touch at 8-7, played a sloppy safety shot and let Trump in for a typically flamboyant 133 clearance that took him one frame from victory.
But on the cusp of victory, Trump was kept rooted in his chair as Hawkins responded with a brave 75 to pull back to 9-7, followed by an equally ambitious 82 to give him hope of replicating his stunning win over O’Sullivan.
Hawkins, who had been kept up into the early hours in his semi-final win over Mark Allen, looked far from fatigued as he struck first in the 18th frame, but he jawed a red to the middle on a break of 20 and served up Trump with his chance to make what proved to be a pivotal break.
Trump had looked set to take command in the early stages of the final, when he reeled off three frames in a row to establish a 5-2 lead.
But a superb 81 in the next left Hawkins in touch at the end of the afternoon session, and it would set the narrative for the evening’s conclusion with both players exhibiting flashes of brilliance and errors aplenty.
Trump made the first move to go 6-3 in front but failed to punish Hawkins for missing a black off its spot in the next and allowed the Kent man, a Crucible runner-up in 2013, to chisel back within two frames.
Hawkins rode his luck in the next to pull within one, but failed to capitalise on more mistakes from his clearly struggling opponent in the next, and fell 7-6 behind.
Trump’s nudge within a frame of victory prompted Hawkins to throw caution to the wind and he piled the pressure on by fighting back to 9-8.
Trump responded with a break of 67 that petered out agonisingly short of the title, and Hawkins gave his all in an engrossing safety exchange before a long brown effectively sealed victory for the favourite.
“It was such a hard game, and the way Barry battled today considering what happened yesterday was incredible really, so fair play to Barry,” added Trump.
“He had the chance to go level and the game could have changed, and even towards the end I was leaving him half-chances and he was clearing up every time.
“It’s been 13 years, it’s not easy to win these events. I’ve played brilliantly a lot of times and still come up short, so to do it in the manner I’ve done it, with probably one of the toughest draws of all time, I’m so proud of myself.”