Ronnie O’Sullivan was just one of the hurdles Barry Hawkins cleared to get to the UK Championship final last Sunday.
The odds were stacked against Hawkins, who had lost his previous four meetings with the Rocket leading into their clash in York. But he produced a fantastic display to win 6-4 against the seven-time world champion.
Hawkins has since revealed that he and O’Sullivan came face-to-face after their showdown. And putting the tongue-in-cheek name-calling to one side, as well as the controversial comments which have rubbed some snooker stars up the wrong way, Hawkins insists that the 49-year-old is perfectly agreeable when you catch him one-on-one.
“I’ve struggled big time [against O’Sullivan],” Hawkins told The Metro. “My record speaks for itself. So that was a big moment for me and it spurred me on. It’s not as though he was playing badly!
“I spoke to him later actually, I bumped into him as he was leaving the gym in York. He called me a name from across the road which I can’t really mention. I looked up and saw it was him and went over and we chatted about the game and stuff. He said: “You’re playing well Baz, keep it going.”
“I’ve always got on alright with Ronnie. I’ve been to practice with him every now and again. Obviously he says things sometimes that people don’t agree with, but catch him on his own and he’s always been fine with me.”
Hawkins and O’Sullivan are both long-serving professionals, with more than 20 years of competitive snooker having passed since their first meeting in the 2001/02 season. The pair also met in the 2013 World Snooker Championship final, which O’Sullivan won 18-12.
Though the Rocket prevailed on that occasion, it was Hawkins who enjoyed a strong run at the UK Championship. The 45-year-old kicked on from his win over O’Sullivan by defeating David Gilbert, Shaun Murphy and Mark Allen.
But a blockbuster clash with Trump proved to be too tough a challenge, with Hawkins losing 10-8 despite staging a late fightback. Afterwards, Trump backed his defeated opponent, who has reached as high as fourth in the world rankings, to finally open his Triple Crown account.
“It’s been an amazing season and an amazing five or six years,” he said. “I would like Barry to win one, just not against me – and I take the rest.”
