Barry Hawkins blew away the opposition on Tuesday as he stormed into his first Cazoo Champion of Champions semi-final.
The Hawk followed up his 4-0 victory over World Champion Luca Brecel in the afternoon Group 2 opener by soaring past Robert Milkins 6-2 in the evening.
Hawkins was too clinical for Milkins, who had pulled off a shock in the afternoon with a 4-2 triumph over veteran Mark Williams.
Victory for Hawkins, 44, puts him into the last four and, on Friday, he will face the winner of Group Three.
“I’m delighted to get through because all the groups here are tough with tournament winners,” said Hawkins. “They are all great players. It’s a short format in the first match so it could be anyone who gets through.”
After taking a tight opening frame against Milkins by clearing from green to black, Hawkins soon extended his advantage to 4-0, aided by breaks of 55 and 83. Milkins battled back to 5-2, before Hawkins sealed the result in frame eight with another un of 83.
Earlier in the day, he saw off Crucible king Brecel in just 55 minutes, firing breaks of 128, 50, 59 and 108. Milkins top scored with 74 as he got the better of Williams.
Wednesday’s Group 1 action at Bolton’s Toughsheet Stadium will take place without Ronnie O’Sullivan, after he withdrew from the tournament on Tuesday morning and was replaced by China’s Ding Junhui.The group contains another Chinese star and snooker’s man of the moment, Zhang Anda, fresh from his weekend triumph in the International Championship.
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