BARRY Hawkins was in the mood to get on with it against Yu Delu to avoid another late night at the Wyldecrest Parks PTC Grand Finals on Friday.
The Hawk was up until 1am against Ryan Day at Preston’s Guild Hall in his last-16 clash the day before – and was relieved when Marco Fu made short work of John Higgins.
And having got on the table at a reasonable hour the world No5 played the match at a brisk tempo against an opponent also suffering with fatigue.
Yu simply could not back up his stunning victory over world champion Ronnie O’Sullivan on Thursday, and had to be content with a first ranking quarter-final appearance.
With the 4-1 win Kent’s Hawkins, 34, set up a semi-final against tournament favourite Judd Trump on Saturday afternoon.
He said: “I didn’t fancy another late night, and from the second frame I tried to up the pace a little bit. The position was terrible, but I kept potting to keep breaks going.
“I was dreading a John Higgins comeback in the match before, it is so hard to get yourself up for it going on after 10pm as I did against Ryan.
“I have been in bed every night at 10pm at home since getting back from China last time, but at least the next match will be earlier.
“It should be a great game against Judd, he has beaten me a couple of times and my record against him isn’t great, but that doesn’t matter in this event. “
Yu said: “I was confident coming in to this match but I did not play anywhere near as well as against Ronnie, and Barry punished my mistakes.
“I woke up too early really for such a late game, around seven in the morning, and by 9pm I was feeling very tired. I just didn’t feel as good.”
Photographs by Monique Limbos