Classic Matches of 2014 Countdown: 12th Place: Ricky Walden Vs Barry Hawkins (2014 Masters)

After a very enjoyable time creating this feature for the Christmas and New Year period last year, it's time for the return of my 12 days of Christmas, Classic Matches of 2014 Countdown. As with last year the qualification period for matches was from the start of the 2013 UK Championships until the end of the 2014 Ruhr Open. As with last year the matches and the order has been decided by myself based on my own individual enjoyment watching the matches unfold originally.

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.

 

What an amazing match to kick us off with a brilliant comeback from Ricky Walden to go with the brilliant break building from both players and killer tension in the final frames of the match. Of course that was only in 12th place, and the other 11 will be revealed day by day until the winner is announced on New Year's Day. Who will take 11th place? Come back tomorrow to find out!