Barry Hawkins leads defending champion Ronnie O’Sullivan 6-4 after the first session of the Shanghai Masters final.

Hawkins is 1.75 to win the match as he sets his sights on a first ever Shanghai Masters title, with O’Sullivan 2.00.

‘The Hawk’ hit two centuries over the course of the session, including a 125 in the opening frame to lay down a marker, as he bids to claim the non-ranking title.

Hawkins edged a scrappy second frame to open up a lead but O’Sullivan hit back with a break of 85 in the third to get on the scoreboard. The Rocket then went 3-1 down before closing the gap with a 93 break and then moved level by winning the sixth. However, Hawkins fired back with a sublime 132 then reclaimed a two-frame lead with victory in the next.

O’Sullivan hit a 68 break in the penultimate frame as he looked to level the scores again but Hawkins kept his composure and won the 10th with a break of 63.

Hawkins has managed just one win in his last eight meetings with O’Sullivan and is 29.00 to win the final 11-4. The world number seven is 8.50 to win 11-8 or 2.10 to win with a -1.5 frame handicap, while O’Sullivan is 6.50 to win 11-9.

O’Sullivan has yet to hit a century and he is 2.70 to finish the match with one century, or 23.00 to manage four.