Barry Hawkins made easy work of Marco Fu to book his place in the World Grand Prix quarter-finals and boost his chances of qualifying for the Players Championship.

The Englishman was an early casualty at the German Masters last month but he appears to have put that disappointment firmly in the past.

Hawkins, who lifted the World Grand Prix title two years ago, got off to a flying start in Wednesday’s clash with Fu. He secured breaks of 73, 55 and 50 to open up a 3-0 advantage in Cheltenham before Fu attempted to mount a comeback by claiming the fourth frame.

The pair engaged in a tense battle during the fifth frame, which lasted 45 minutes, but Hawkins held his nerve to wrap up a 4-1 win.

Hawkins said: “I was pleased to win in the end.

“It was a good tactical battle in the last frame. I have been practising hard and it would be nice to have good run. This is a fantastic venue, it’s a great set up.

“The Players Championship is just around the corner so I need to be in the top 16 of the one year list to get into that (he is currently 15th).

“There’s a lot of money at stake so I want to be involved in it. I didn’t qualify for the Coral events last year and it was horrible to be sitting at home. You fall further behind everyone else in the rankings.”

Hawkins can be backed at 23.00 to win the World Snooker Championships 2019.