Id regret never winning a triple crown event, says Barry Hawkins ahead of UK Championship bid

Barry Hawkins admits it would be a source of regret if he finished his snooker career without a triple crown title.

Hawkins has lost four triple crown finals, the last of them coming 12 months ago at the UK Championship, where Judd Trump edged him out 10-8 in a thriller at York’s Barbican Centre.

And heading into this year’s UK Championship, 46-year-old Hawkins has again set his sights on a marquee triumph.

Asked if he would regret not winning a triple crown event when his career is over, world No.14 Hawkins told Sporting Life: “Yeah I would. As you get older, you don’t know how many more chances you’re going to have.

“I lost narrowly to Judd last year and I was really gutted, because I’m not getting any younger and you don’t know how many more times you can get in those positions, the game is so tough.

“I’m going to try my best for the next few years and hopefully I can pick one up before I put the cue away.”

Hawkins, who has won four ranking titles, could hardly have had it tougher with opponents in his triple crown finals.

Before that meeting with Trump, he lost 18-12 to Ronnie O’Sullivan in the 2013 World Championship final at the Crucible in Sheffield and was then thrashed 10-1 by O’Sullivan in the 2016 Masters final at London’s Alexandra Palace.

Hawkins fell at the final hurdle again at the Masters in 2022, where he lost 10-4 to Neil Robertson in the showpiece match.

“I always come up against world No.1s and people that are flying, and have won like five tournaments that year,” Hawkins lamented.

“I mean, there’s no easy draws but it seems to me I come up against all-time greats in finals. I could do with a little bit of help.”

For a number of years Hawkins didn’t perform well in York, with his furthest run from 12 appearances at the Barbican being to the quarter-finals in 2013.

But that has changed in recent seasons. The Kent man reached the last four in 2021 – where he lost to eventual winner Zhao Xintong – and then came within a whisker of glory in 2024.

And Hawkins, who will begin his bid for glory against David Lilley on Tuesday night, is clearly a big fan of the famous tournament, including the venue.

“It’s just a nice place to be York. It’s probably one of the few places in the UK where I wouldn’t mind living there,” Hawkins said.

“It’s a nice place at that time of year as well, with the Christmas markets and stuff like that. There’s things to do in between matches to pass your time better.

“It’s a great set-up, it’s a BBC event, it’s a triple crown event and the crowds are always really good, which helps get the adrenalin flowing and helps get you up for the matches, which I prefer.”

It’s been a quiet few weeks for Hawkins, since he lost to eventual winner Wu Yize in the quarter-finals of the International Championship in Nanjing.

He did play in the Crucible Cup event in Reading on Monday however, where he lost 6-3 to John Higgins. And he was very glad for the table time.

“I enjoyed it,” Hawkins said. “I’m trying to get the hours under the belt leading up to the UK, hence the reason I went to play in the event.

“Even though it was a different format, it’s still nice to play in front of a few people and play against someone like John. It’s a nice bit of match practice. It was a good little set-up. I was gutted to have lost, but I enjoyed the match.

“The last week or two it’s been nice being at home. I feel like we’ve been here, there and everywhere since the start of the season.

“I was really pleased to play in the event and get some match practice under my belt. Hopefully that puts me in good stead for the UK now.”

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