UK Championship: Barry Hawkins makes 147 in victory over Gerard Greene
- From the section Snooker
| Betway UK Championship |
|---|
| Venue: York Barbican Dates: 26 November-8 December |
| Coverage: Watch live across BBC Two, BBC iPlayer, BBC Red Button, Connected TV, the BBC Sport website and mobile app from 30 November |
Barry Hawkins made a 147 break on his way to a 6-2 first-round win over Gerard Greene at the UK Championship.
The world number 10 compiled the 16th maximum in the tournament's 43-year history in the fourth frame to lead 4-0, before closing out victory on day two at the York Barbican.
Hawkins, 40, will pocket £15,000 for the break, although the money will be shared if anyone else matches the feat.
"It's 15 grand? Happy days," said Hawkins on discovering his reward.
"I'll buy myself a Christmas present."
Kent-based Londoner Hawkins, a three-time ranking event winner, began his quest for a first UK title in stunning form with breaks of 91, 68 and 80 before his 147.
"For the first four frames I didn't miss," the left-hander added. "I played brilliant. And the 147 was a good one. I had the white under control and was in position for most of the break.
"It's brilliant to have one at the UK Championship in the big arena.
"I was feeling it big time on the last couple of balls. It's mad, you have plenty in practice but to do it in the arena in match conditions is brilliant."
Maximum bonus change
A controversial new World Snooker bonus scheme means there has to be 20 maximum breaks in a season to trigger a shared £1m bonus.
But activating the bonus before the end of the season in early May is "not going to happen", Hawkins said.
"There are 16 to go," Hawkins added. "There won't be enough to share the prize. It makes headlines but in reality it's not going to happen."
Selby and Ding stroll through
Elsewhere, two-time champion Mark Selby coasted through, the Leicester man crushing Andy Hicks 6-0 in a one-sided contest.
A break of 134 was the highlight for Selby, who rounded victory off with another stylish ton against an opponent who only managed a total of 88 points.
"I was a little bit ropey, a bit edgy, in the first two frames," Selby said. "That's understandable in a big tournament I managed to nick both of those and that settled me down."
Another former champion, Ding Junhui, routinely progressed into round two in the morning session, winning five frames in a row to beat Welshman Duane Jones 6-2
China's Ding, 32, has slipped to 16 in the world and has not won a ranking event in more than two years.
But he looked increasingly confident as breaks of 73, 103, 77 and 92 saw him recover from 2-1 down to progress.
There were also wins for 2004 champion Stephen Maguire, Marco Fu and ex-world champion Graeme Dott.
World number 14 Maguire edged out Billy Castle 6-4, Hong Kong's Fu, the 2008 finalist, beat Craig Steadman 6-3 and Maguire's fellow Scot Dott thrashed Barry Pinches 6-1.
Three-time world champion Mark Williams starts his tournament on Wednesday evening against Scotland's Fraser Patrick, a session which also sees world number nine Kyren Wilson take on Riley Parsons.
World number one Judd Trump plays Morocco's Amine Amiri in the opening round on Thursday at 14:30 GMT, and seven-time champion Ronnie O'Sullivan is in action against Ross Bulman later that evening.
BBC television coverage of the tournament begins on Saturday from 13:15 GMT on BBC One.
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