Mark Selby treated fans Tobago thrilling match between himself and Andy Hicks. The three-time world champion got off on front foot, snatching the opening frame to take a 1-0 lead.
One would have expected Andy Hicks to fight back, taking a frame or two and proving a real challenger for Selby but none of that happened. Instead, it was a lazy day at the office for Selby as the Englishman raced through his duel with Hicks.
A 6-0 whitewash of Hicks was what ensued with two gigantic century breaks figures –
134 and 114 – in the process. That was a complete annihilation of his opponent and with such breaks? Who does that?
Speaking of breaks, Barry Hawkins’ break of 147 spoke volumes about the right way to make century breaks. It was the third 147 and maximum of the 40-year-old’s career, one that ended on a good note. Asides strolling past his opponent, Hawkins pocketed a £15,000 cheque for making a maximum.
The 40-year-old recorded a massive victory over his opponent and practice partner, Gerard Greene to kick off his UK Championship campaign on a front foot. Breaks of 91, 68, 80 and a maximum of 147 in the fourth frame was enough to guide Barry Hawkins to a 6-2 win over Gerard Greene.
Elsewhere, Ryan Day escaped by little margins the clasp of Soheil Vahedi, recording a 6-4 victory over his Iranian counterpart.
Next on was Kyren Wilson who had it easy against the opponent. From the start of the game, you get the feeling that it was going to be an easy win for Wilson and it happened just so. With symmetry breaks of 92, 71, 71 and 92, it felt like a polka dot game of breaks for Wilson who stopped at nothing to demolish his opponent.
A 6-0 whitewash of Riley Parsons was the end result of such symmetrically arranged break figures. Riley Parson can now kiss the UK Championship goodbye and bother his head bout other things instead.
Ian Burns also took to the table to record a dominant win over his opponent in Matthew Selt. What started as a normal day for Selt ended on a sour note as lost in such a devastating manner.
Written by: Roland Arum