In 12th place this year, kicking off the countdown we take a trip back to the Dafabet Masters on Wednesday 15th January when Ricky Walden took on Barry Hawkins in the Last 16, and before the match started it looked like being a very close one and so it proved...
Ricky Walden Vs Barry Hawkins:
This Masters Last 16 tie started out with both players
missing a couple of chances at long reds and tricky shots, which is always
expected at the start of a tough match with some early nerves flying about. It
was Ricky Walden who gained the first chance after his opponent went in off
playing a safety at the bottom end of the table with reds on in baulk. He only
made 6 from it though missing a tricky red to the middle, leaving Hawkins right
in. Barry soon made the most of what was a very good early chance, turning it
into a frame winning one with a break of 85 to take a 1-0 advantage. A loose escape early in the second left
Walden the first chance to score, but again he was left with a tough shot early
on in the break and he could only make 8. From that miss Barry was left a
mid-range shot which he stroked in confidently to give himself a good early
scoring chance. On 7 he left himself a good angle on the green to get into the
pack and he did so confidently to make it an excellent opportunity for 2-0.
However, he went into the pack again from the pink, failing to fall on a red,
so he was forced into a safety just making 21. A sloppy safety from Ricky gave
Hawkins a second chance soon after, with the reds nicely placed for him to
double his lead. A timely fluke with the lead only 26 kept things ticking along
in the break, and soon the lead had been doubled with a contribution of 57
proving enough for 2-0. A solid long red from Barry gave him another nice
opening to score some early points in frame three. He was into the reds on 40
and after spreading them nicely it was all looking very inviting for a 3-0
Hawkins advantage. A three frame advantage it was for the left hander thanks to
a magnificent total clearance of 132. An early plant gave the first chance of a
vital frame 4 to Ricky Walden who desperately needed to win this frame and get
on the board. An early 50 gave Walden control of the frame, though it could’ve
been more had he not over hit position from the blue to the next red. With this
cushion Walden took on a tough red to the middle but once it went on you
expected him to win the frame until he missed the following blue off of the
spot thanks to a huge kick. This left Hawkins a chance being 52 behind with 67
on and when he played a fantastic split of the 2 reds near the bottom cushion,
he had the opening right there to pull off a fantastic steal and go into the
interval 4-0 ahead. Ricky was let off
when Hawkins missed the penultimate red to the middle, but with a miss of his
own he let the Hawk straight back in with a chance to swoop for that four frame
advantage. He left the brown tough though and when he missed it Ricky would’ve
been relieved to get the chance to pot brown, blue and pink to ensure that he
got on the board at 1-3 at the mid-session interval, but still with plenty to
do.
After the break, a nice fluke for Hawkins after a missed
long red helped him get going, and leaving Ricky Walden pretty frustrated in
his chair. Hawkins was going well until going out of position on 45 having gone
into the reds leaving himself an all or nothing long blue to keep the break
going, and as soon as that went in it looked like a great opening for a 4-1
advantage. It was the second century of the night for Hawkins and he appeared
to be on top form and in a great position for the quarter-finals with the 4-1
lead. A missed long red from Barry to the baulk pocket at the start of frame
six gave Ricky a nice early scoring chance, the likes of which he needed to
start taking in order to overturn this deficit. A slice of bad luck going into
the reds on 26 and not landing on one cut Walden’s break short though and he
knew he needed to win the next safety battle. The next chance did fall to
Walden after a very impressive red to the middle, and although it wasn’t clear
cut, it was a decent opening to try and win this vital frame. It was a chance
that Ricky made into a winner with clever little nudges to get reds away from
cushions and a great break of 100 from Walden kept him in the match at 2-4 to
Hawkins. A massive kick on one of Walden’s safety shots at the start of frame
seven gifted Barry a nice chance at a long red which he made to get nicely on
the black with the reds already nicely spread, making it a decent early frame
winning opportunity. Barry made 59 before massively over hitting his positional
shot and having to play safe, but still in a very good position in the frame. A
roll up snooker behind the black gained Hawkins 8 points which left Walden
needing snookers, but when Hawkins potted a further couple of reds that was
plenty to put him into a 5-2 lead and just a frame from a spot in the Last 8.
But that certainly wasn’t game over.
A shy long attempt from Hawkins at the start of frame eight
left Walden a good early opening, the likes of which he now needed to take all
of – having to win the remaining four frames for victory. A break of 73 left
Hawkins needing 2 snookers but had he have gotten the red he missed on 73 Barry
wouldn’t have returned to the table. Barry battled on a while for the snookers
but eventually made the costly mistake and Walden did win the frame to pull one
back at 3-5. Ricky had a terrible piece of luck at the beginning of frame nine,
having nailed a brilliant long range plant, splitting the reds open nicely, but
snookering himself on all 6 colours. He managed to hit the yellow in the third
attempt but that was no consolation for Walden as Hawkins knocked in a great
long red, getting nicely on the yellow too. However, Hawkins the missed the
pink on only 4 to leave Ricky a chance to score. He made 46 before coming up
short on his intended red and being forced to play safe 35 points in front with
all 5 reds initially near cushions. After a poor snooker escape from Walden,
Barry soon had a decent chance to claw back the deficit in this frame, but
another bad miss with the rest left Ricky in again and already with a 10 point
advantage. He ran out of position on 3 though and then played a horror show of a
safety shot to leave Hawkins an easy starter again. The drama continued though
as Barry missed the last red along the rail and left it safe. Walden leading by
10 points with 35 remaining. Ricky potted the red but didn’t get nicely on a
colour so played safe snookering Hawkins on the yellow. Ricky soon played
another good snooker and this one gained him enough points to only need yellow
and green for the frame. Ricky potted a long yellow leaving himself a mid-range
green which he missed so Barry could still clear to force a re-spotted black.
At this point Hawkins produced a brilliant 25 clearance to force that re-spot,
which if Hawkins won he’d win the match. Ricky won the toss and made Barry play
first and Barry made a complete mess of his shot to basically leave the black
over the corner pocket for Walden, who seized his chance to close the gap again
at 4-5.
Frame ten then became a massive frame with huge pressure on
both players, especially Hawkins who’d already spurned one good winning chance.
It was the left hander who knocked in a good long red to get things going but
he lost position on 6 coming in and out of baulk on the blue. He was soon back
amongst the balls though and with a good chance to build a decent early lead.
Barry could only add a further 20 though before playing a poor split of the
reds from the blue and then missing a tricky red to the middle. The frame
started to become scrappy with long periods of safety until Walden managed to
knock a red in escaping from a snooker and gave himself the chance to reduce
his arrears in the frame until he missed a tricky red along the cushion which
he left for Barry who was already 4 points ahead. When Walden knocked a good
red in down the side cushion and played a beast of a snooker behind the blue on
the top cushion, several failed attempts put Walden 18 points in front before
the Chester man was left a chance once Hawkins did escape, though he couldn’t
land on a colour. What came next was a very much prolonged safety battle before
Ricky potted the next red but once again he couldn’t get on a colour and laid a
similar snooker behind the blue to the one earlier in the frame. Hawkins missed
on five occasions before eventually hitting a red leaving Walden 40 points in
front with just 43 remaining on the table. A poor safety from Walden though
gave Hawkins the chance to keep himself in frame, potting a red and black
before snookering Walden on the last red, behind the black. Ricky knocked in
the last red from distance after much more safety play leaving Hawkins needing
2 snookers on the yellow. Once Ricky potted a solid yellow though that was
enough for Ricky to force the decider and win the last three frames in a row
from 5-2 down.
A poor escape at the start of the decider left Walden in
with an early chance to score and build up what are always very handy leads in
deciding frames under the huge pressures that both players would be under. He
made 30 from the chance, giving him an early 34 point lead before being forced
to play safe after covering his intended red with another red. After a long
bout of safety once again, Hawkins missed a really tough pot into the top
corner, leaving the pot on for Walden who missed and left again for Barry to
have his first scoring opportunity of the decider. Hawkins made 27 before
missing a tough black off of the spot, and after pot attempts from both players
Hawkins made the fateful mistake going all out on a pot to the middle that he
missed by some way, leaving Walden a good chance with enough balls open to
leave Hawkins needing snookers. That’s exactly what Walden did going 38 points
ahead with just 35 on the table as Barry came back for the one snooker he
needed. It didn’t take long though for Ricky to pot the final red and force a
concession from Barry Hawkins for Ricky Walden to complete a famous victory
beating Barry Hawkins 6-5 from 5-2 down to get into the Masters quarter-finals.
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