Barry Hawkins became the latest high-profile casualty at the English Open after he was dumped out of the tournament at the third round by Daniel Wells.

Hawkins has been in good form this season and he narrowly missed out on the Shanghai Masters title after losing 11-9 to former world number one Ronnie O’Sullivan in the final.

The 39-year-old also reached the semi-final of the World Open and the China Championship quarter-finals, results which have lifted him to sixth in the official world rankings.

Peter Lines and Sam Craigie were both dispatched in the first two rounds by the ‘Hawk’, setting up a third-round clash with Wells after he had ousted Joe Perry and Lee Walker.

Hawkins, who had won the only two previous encounters with his Welsh opponent, was on course for victory after opening up a 3-1 lead thanks to breaks of 106 and 60. But Wells showed fantastic spirit to fight back and he took the next two frames before a 78 break was enough to take the decider, booking his spot in the next stage of the tournament.

For Hawkins, the loss will be hard to take after coming within touching distance of the win but he is still fancied to mount a strong challenge for 2019 World Championship glory at a price of 17.00.

Elsewhere, Englishman Mark King, who reached the semi-final of the European Masters this season, exited the event after a 4-2 loss to Welshman Ryan Day in round three.

Northern Ireland’s Jordan Brown was also sent packing after a 4-2 defeat to Scot Stephen Maguire, who is a 67.00 shot to win the World Championship next year.