Northern Ireland Open: Mark King wins maiden title

Hawkins raced into a 5-1 lead after breaks of 83 and 113 but King, who was playing his first ranking final since the 2004 Irish Masters, responded with frames of 48 and 42 to cut the deficit to two frames at the end of the first session.

King, who had never won a ranking title in 25 years as a professional, reeled off another four frames, including breaks of 62, 100 and 54, to lead 7-5. Hawkins, however, fought back to draw level with breaks of 73 and 76.

A stroke of luck saw King snatch the 15th frame and lead 8-7. The 42-year-old then forced a black ball re-spot in the 16th but missed the chance to seal the title, allowing Hawkins to force a decider.

However, the Romford potter made no mistake in the final frame to claim the Alex Higgins Trophy.

King told www.worldsnooker.com: "At 8-7 up my little daughter Polly was doing cartwheels outside and it just calmed me down seeing her happy. I thought to myself worst case scenario I have my three gems here and my wife.

"I left everything on the table and it is nice to come out and be a champ.

"I just thought all week my name was on the trophy. I haven't said it but things were happening. People were missing game balls on the black. I just think it was meant to be.

"The money is always nice. I came here and I don't think I had a tenner in the bank. My dad and my mate lent me a few quid and hopefully I can build on it now." 

Northern Ireland Open 2016 Daily Results

Monday November 14
Morning Session (1000)
First Round (Best of 7 frames)
Michael Wild 2-4 Adam Duffy (Match 2)
Kurt Dunham 4-2 Christopher Keogan (Match 3)
Robert Milkins 1-4 Scott Donaldson (Match 4)
Zhang Yong 2-4 Kurt Maflin (Match 9)
Mike Dunn 3-4 Josh Boileaux (Match 11)
Ali Carter (withdrew) v Hamza Akbar (Match 12)
Allan Taylor 4-2 Li Hang (Match 30)
Barry Hawkins 4-0 Martin O'Donnell (Match 44)

Afternoon Session (1300)
First Round (Best of 7 frames)
Joe Perry 4-0 Itaro Santos (Match 48)
Judd Trump (withdrew) v Peter Ebdon (Match 1)
Zhou Yuelong 4-3 Matthew Stevens (Match 29)
Sam Craigie 4-0 Jamie Jones (Match 31)
Alex Borg 4-2 Dechawat Poomjaeng (Match 10)
Adam Stefanow 2-4 Jamie Cope (Match 34)
Chen Zhe 4-1 Ross Muir (Match 36)
Stuart Carrington 3-4 Michael Holt (Match 43)
Elliott Slessor 2-4 Jimmy Robertson (Match 47)
Shaun Murphy 0-4 Luca Brecel (Match 33)
Fergal O'Brien 4-2 Tian Pengfei (Match 13)
Wang Yuchen 1-4 Sanderson Lam (Match 6)
Zak Surety 4-3 Darryl Hill (Match 7)
Jordan Brown 4-2 Ben Woollaston (Match 22)
John Higgins 4-0 Paul S Davison (Match 32)
Hossein Vafaei Ayouri 4-3 Rod Lawler (Match 8)
Thor Chuan Leong 1-4 Mitchell Mann(Match 14)

Evening Session (1900)
First Round (Best of 7 frames)
Ronnie O'Sullivan 4-1 David John (Match 17)
Gareth Allen 2-4 Jimmy White (Match 18)
Zhang Anda 4-0 Ian Preece (Match 19)
Chris Wakelin 4-1 James Wattana (Match 20)
Cao Yupeng 1-4 Akani Songsermsawad (Match 23)
Mark Davis 4-0 Jason Weston (Match 24)
Graeme Dott 0-4 Michael White (Match 35)

Tuesday November 15
Morning Session (1000)
First Round (Best of 7 frames)
Kyren Wilson 4-2 Hammad Miah (Match 21)
Ricky Walden 4-2 Sean O'Sullivan (Match 37)
Mei Xi Wen 1-4 Duane Jones (Match 41)
Fraser Patrick 4-1 Marc J Davis (Match 42)
Robin Hull 4-2 James Cahill (Match 51)
Lee Walker 4-2 Rhys Clark (Match 52)
Andrew Higginson 4-1 Daniel Wells (Match 55)
Gary Wilson 4-0 Peter Lines (Match 56)

Afternoon Session (1300)
First Round (Best of 7 frames)
Stephen Maguire 3-4 Alan McManus (Match 5)
Ding Junhui 2-4 Yu De Lu (Match 64)
Kritsanut Lertsattayathorn 4-2 Rory McLeod (Match 38)
Tom Ford 4-2 Ian Burns (Match 39)
Aditya Mehta 4-2 Sydney Wilson (Match 59)
Robbie Williams 4-2 Thepchaiya Un-Nooh (Match 63)
Eden Sharav 4-1 Oliver Lines (Match 61)
Steven Hallworth 1-4 Yan Bingtao (Match 62)
Mark Williams 4-2 David Grace (Match 28)
Dominic Dale 4-2 Joe Swail (Match 40)
Jack Lisowski 4-3 David Lilley (Match 45)
John J Astley 4-3 Xiao Guodong (Match 46)
Liang Wenbo 4-1 Nigel Bond (Match 16)
Anthony McGill 4-2 Fang Xiongman (Match 60)
Mark King 4-1 Igor Figueiredo (Match 15)
Anthony Hamilton 4-2 Boonyarit Keattikun (Match 58)

Evening Session (1900)
First Round (Best of 7 frames)
Matthew Selt 2-4 Jamie Curtis-Barrett (Match 25)
Zhao Xingtong 1-4 David Gilbert (Match 26)
Craig Steadman 4-1 Alfie Burden (Match 27)
Mark Allen 4-1 Mark Joyce (Match 49)
Michael Georgiou 4-2 Patrick Wallace (Match 50)
Marco Fu 4-3 Ryan Day (Match 53)
Noppon Saengkham 3-4 Sam Baird (Match 54)
Ashley Hugill 0-4 Ken Doherty (Match 57)

Wednesday November 16
Morning Session (1000)
Second Round (Best of 7 frames)
Peter Ebdon 4-3 Adam Duffy (Match 65)
Kurt Dunham 3-4 Scott Donaldson (Match 66)
Zak Surety 2-4 Hossein Vafaei Ayouri (Match 68)
Kurt Maflin 4-1 Alex Borg (Match 69)
Josh Boileau 4-2 Hamza Akbar (Match 70)
Fergal O'Brien 4-0 Mitchell Mann (Match 71)
Zhou Yuelong 4-0 Allan Taylor (Match 79)
Luca Brecel  4-2 Jamie Cope  (Match 81)

Afternoon Session (1300)
Second Round (Best of 7 frames)
Alan McManus 0-4 Sanderson Lam (Match 67)
Zhang Anda 4-3 Chris Wakelin (Match 74)
Kyren Wilson 4-2 Jordan Brown (Match 75)
Akani Songsermsawad 4-3 Mark Davis (Match 76)
Jamie Curtis-Barrett 1-4 David Gilbert (Match 77)
Sam Craigie 1-4 John Higgins (Match 80)
Michael White 4-3 Chen Zhe  (Match 82)
Ricky Walden 4-3 Kritsanut Lertsattayathorn (Match 83)
Tom Ford 0-4 Dominic Dale  (Match 84)
Duane Jones 0-4 Fraser Patrick  (Match 85)
Michael Holt 1-4 Barry Hawkins (Match 86)
Jimmy Robertson 3-4 Joe Perry (Match 88)
Mark Allen 4-2 Michael Georgiou (Match 89)
Robin Hull 4-2 Lee Walker (Match 90)
Andrew Higginson 3-4 Gary Wilson (Match 92)
Robbie Williams 4-1 Yu De Lu  (Match 96)

Evening Session (1900)
Second Round (Best of 7 frames)
Mark King 4-2 Liang Wenbo (Match 72)
Ronnie O'Sullivan 4-1 Jimmy White (Match 73)
Craig Steadman 0-4 Mark Williams (Match 78)
Jack Lisowski  4-1 John J Astley (Match 87)
Marco Fu 3-4 Sam Baird (Match 91)
Ken Doherty v Anthony Hamilton (Match 93)
Aditya Mehta 3-4 Anthony McGill (Match 94)
Eden Sharav 0-4 Yan Bingtao (Match 95)

Thursday November 17
Afternoon Session (1200)
Third Round (Best of 7 frames)
Peter Ebdon 2-4 Scott Donaldson (Match 97)
Sanderson Lam 1-4 Hossein Vafaei Ayouri  (Match 98)
Kurt Maflin 4-1 Josh Boileau  (Match 99)
Fergal O'Brien 0-4 Mark King (Match 100)
Ronnie O'Sullivan 4-0 Zhang Anda (Match 101)
Kyren Wilson 4-2 Akani Songsermsawad (Match 102)
David Gilbert 2-4 Mark Williams (Match 103)
Zhou Yuelong 0-4 John Higgins (Match 104)
Luca Brecel 1-4 Michael White (Match 105)
Ricky Walden 2-4 Dominic Dale (Match 106)
Fraser Patrick 0-4 Barry Hawkins (Match 107)
Jack Lisowski 4-3 Joe Perry (Match 108)
Mark Allen 4-1 Robin Hull (Match 109)
Sam Baird 3-4 Gary Wilson (Match 110)
Anthony Hamilton 4-2 Anthony McGill (Match 111)
Yan Bingtao 4-3 Robbie Williams (Match 112)

Evening Session (1900)
Fourth Round (Best of 7 frames)
Scott Donaldson 2-4 Hossein Vafaei Ayouri (Match 113)
Kurt Maflin 2-4 Mark King (Match 114)
Ronnie O'Sullivan 3-4 Kyren Wilson (Match 115)
Mark Williams 4-1 John Higgins (Match 116)
Michael White 4-2 Dominic Dale (Match 117)
Barry Hawkins 4-0 Jack Lisowski  (Match 118)
Mark Allen 4-3 Gary Wilson (Match 119)
Anthony Hamilton 4-3 Yan Bingtao (Match 120)

Friday November 18
Afternoon Session (1200)
Quarter-Finals (Best of 9 frames)
Michael White 2-5 Barry Hawkins (QF3)
Kyren Wilson 5-4 Mark Williams (QF2)

Evening Session (1900)
Quarter-Finals (Best of 9 frames)
Hossein Vafaei Ayouri 3-5 Mark King (QF1)
Mark Allen 2-5 Anthony Hamilton (QF4)

Saturday November 19
Afternoon Session (1300)
Semi-Finals (Best of 11 frames)
Mark King 6-2 Kyren Wilson (SF1)

Evening Session (1900)
Semi-Finals (Best of 11 frames)
Barry Hawkins 6-5 Anthony Hamilton (SF1)

Sunday November 20
Afternoon Session (1300), Evening Session (1900)
Final (Best of 17 frames)
Mark King 9-8 Barry Hawkins