O’Sullivan hammers Hawkins

Barry Hawkins fell one step short of Masters glory on Sunday as he was comfortably beaten 10-1 by Ronnie O’Sullivan at Alexandra Palace.

O’Sullivan had complained that his recent back problems had led to his unhappiness in the semi-final but he levelled with a quick-fire 70 after a poor safety from Hawkins.

But Bingham hit back with breaks of 81 and 52 before O’Sullivan, inset, won the final frame to claim a 6-3 win that put him on course to equal Stephen Hendry’s benchmark. “It is about producing when it matters”, he said.

“I’m 26 now and it’s about time I started winning titles”. “I am disappointed with my performance I didn’t give him a game”.

“We both played as well as we can and it was definitely one of the best games I’ve been involved in – there could have been eight or nine centuries”, said Trump.

The 40-year-old had not played in a major tournament since last April but walked away with the Masters trophy after proving far too strong for Hawkins – who has now lost his last 10 meetings with O’Sullivan. “I knew I needed to raise my level”, he told the BBC.

The reproduction of the story/photograph in any form will be liable for legal action. “If Barry played like he did in the semis, it would have been a great match”.

O’Sullivan is now the second-oldest victor of the event after Ray Reardon in 1976 while Hawkins is convinced he will be able to take the positives from the tournament once he has recovered from his sub-par display in the final.

“My touch and my feel was so bad – I was butchering everything”.

“I’m really, really looking forward to it”, added Bingham.

World number eight Hawkins, another man never to have got beyond round one prior to this year, booked his place in the final earlier on Saturday with a surprise 6-4 win over Judd Trump.

It was the five-time Masters victor who went on to open up a three-frame lead after some marvellous cueing – before a simple red was missed by Hawkins in the sixth to give himself more of a mountain to climb.

“I’ve tried to reinvent myself”, he said. A thumping long pot on the red to a baulk corner set up the chance to clear the table for victory.