Barry Hawkins holds lead over Judd Trump after afternoon session of European Masters snooker final

Barry Hawkins holds a 5-3 lead in the European Masters Snooker final over Judd Trump after an exciting afternoon session at the Metropol Arena in Nuremberg.

The stage was set for a showdown in Germany with the European title and a prize pot of £80,000 on the line.

Hawkins, by contrast, rolled into the final in style. He beat world champion Luca Brecel in an earlier round but his standout performance came in the semi-final against Mark Selby. Hawkins’ frame-winning clearances, including two consecutive brilliant efforts, propelled him to a 6-4 victory over Selby.

Risk-averse play from Trump saw the door left open for Hawkins in the opening stages and he didn’t need a second opportunity. Hawkins was 28-1 up at the end of his break.

Trump saw things swing back in his favour on the next break, moving into a 40-28 lead, but could have picked up more if not for a loose shot late on.

Hawkins pulled Trump closer with a remarkable shot, clipping one red off the other and into the bottom-left pocket before tidying up the remainder to take the first frame.

Momentum followed Hawkins into the second frame as a superb opening break snowballed into a big lead. He had a chance to take the frame to zero but played it safe at 72-0, with 75 left on the table.

Trump, scrambling to clear the table, tagged in a red and Hawkins stepped in again. He was in no hurry and potted four reds and blacks before rolling in the brown to take the frame.

A new frame but the same old story for Trump followed in the third. A poor break-off gave Hawkins the chance to rack up another big lead. However, on 38 and looking untroubled, Hawkins missed a black and gave Trump a golden chance to regroup.

But Trump could only pick up 11 before another poor shot gave Hawkins control. Hawkins handed the initiative right back after escaping an attempted snooker only to go in-off. Trump finally looked to have found his feet from there, picking up a difficult final red before going blue to green pocket. That was enough to get Trump on the board and Hawkins’ lead was cut in half.

Hawkins was millimetres from holding for the blue to open the fourth frame, but it rebounded off the high knuckle. Instead, Trump stepped in with some super shots including an excellent black to bottom right. He led 35-0, and 42-24 before Hawkins swung in to take the frame. Cleaning up reds in the open, he potted the pink, yellow and blue to move into a 3-1 lead.

After the interval, another slip from Trump let Hawkins in again. Potting a red to bottom right he was looking dangerous but a tough brown saw him settle for 14 points. Trump put together his best break of the day, finishing with the pink for an excellent 108 to take the frame and reel Hawkins’ lead in once again.

Trump was looking ascendant but Hawkins struck back with vigour. A sensational break of 94 put Hawkins back into the lead. Beginning with a red into the bottom left, Hawkins saw his chance for a big break and took it.

His brilliant break ended on a difficult red down the rail, but he had put himself back into an extremely strong position.

Trump needed to respond in the seventh frame, and he did just that.

A poor shot from Hawkins left a red hanging over the bottom left, giving Trump the chance to pick it up and turning that opening into a big break.. After that sloppy frame before the break, things had taken a real turn and Trump was showing the best of himself. The opening Hawkins had left turned into a break of 107, Trump’s 915th career ton, and made it 4-3.

The final frame of the afternoon saw another strong Trump break. He plugged his first red with a powerful shot, taking four reds and blacks before bouncing off the side rail and landing one more to move to 60-0. He couldn’t finish the table though, leaving Hawkins a chance to snatch the frame.

Hawkins picked up seven reds before attempting to snooker Trump. A hail mary hit-and-hope from Trump did not have the desired effect and Hawkins was back in control. He picked up another five reds, leaving Trump in behind the blue.

After a see-sawing middle portion of the frame, Trump pushed his luck and went in-off to hand Hawkins another opening. Hawkins cleaned up from there, snatching the frame and sealing an important 5-3 lead before the break.

All is not lost for Trump, as Hawkins has an unfortunate habit of falling at the last hurdle in ranking finals, having done so in the 2018 Welsh Open, 2018 China Open, 2022 Players Championship and last year’s European Masters.