Hawkins beats Lisowski to win first Welsh Open title

A dominant afternoon session set Barry Hawkins on the way to winning his first Welsh Open title as he beat Jack Lisowski 9-5 in the final.

Hawkins won seven of the first eight frames at Venue Cymru in Llandudno to open up a seemingly unassailable lead.

Lisowski won the first three frames of the evening session to threaten an unlikely comeback.

But Lisowski's fightback hopes took a blow in the 12th frame as a fluke-plant on a red began a break of 68 which moved Hawkins within one frame of the title.

And two frames later, Hawkins ended his three-year wait for a rankings title, as the 46-year-old lifted the Ray Reardon trophy for the first time in his career.

"It means the world," said Hawkins.

"I've came close a couple times last season. I've been knocking on the door for a little while so I feel like I deserved one.

"Playing that man [Lisowski] is so scary - he pots balls from everywhere and you can't leave them safe on the table.

"It's never over until it is over, and I'm delighted to get over the line because I was feeling it."

Hawkins, who was beaten by John Higgins in the 2018 final, took control early on, winning the opening frame with a break of 105.

And although Lisowski drew level in the second frame, Hawkins would then go on to win six in a row.

Another century break in the fourth frame came in between three half-century breaks of 67, 76 and 88.

The afternoon ended with another Hawkins frame, as he led Lisowski 7-1 going into the tournament's final session.

Lisowski, who was playing in his first Welsh Open final, showed great fight when the game restarted, putting together back-to-back century breaks to remind his opponent there was still work to do.

The 34-year-old then came out on top of a 40-minute frame which swung both ways to reduce Hawkins' lead to 7-4.

But Lisowski's momentum was ended in the following frame, as a long safety shot from Hawkins resulted in a red ball finding the bottom left pocket of the table.

And Hawkins made the most of the opportunity, putting together a break of 68 to put him on the cusp of victory.

Lisowski managed to win one more frame, with a break of 53, before Hawkins clinched the Welsh Open title in the 14th frame of the final.

"I was very poor despite trying my best," said Lisowski.

"Barry was by far the better player today and he deserves his win.

"He's been great to me my whole career, even when I was very young. He's always given me the time of day so I'm very happy for him."