Barry Hawkins rejects ‘too nice’ tag after downing ‘hungover’ Jack Lisowski

Barry Hawkins landed a fifth ranking title of his career by winning the Welsh Open on Sunday and hopes he has put his ‘too nice’ tag to bed.

The Hawk beat Jack Lisowski 9-5 in the final in Llandudno, having raced into a 7-1 lead in the afternoon session.

Jackpot threatened to roar back into contention as he made back-to-back centuries at the start of the evening’s play, but Hawkins got over the line and won the £100,000 top prize.

It was the 46-year-old’s first ranking title since the 2023 European Masters and there is a feeling in snooker that a player of his class should have lifted more than the five trophies he has.

A famously lovely bloke, it has been suggested that Hawkins is simply ‘too nice’ for the cut and thrust at the very elite level, but he doesn’t see it that way.

The Hawk has admitted he has lacked belief in himself at times over his career, but did feel he deserved this title after near misses at the UK Championship in 2024 and the German Masters last year.

‘It means the world, I came close last season to a couple of big titles, I feel I deserved this one because I have been knocking on the door for a while,’ he said.

Reflecting on a season so far, which had not featured a semi-final before his win in Wales, he told TNT Sports: ‘I feel like I’ve let myself down when I’ve got to quarter-finals. You’ve got to be so hungry, keep wanting it, wanting it, wanting it every round, but people have played well against me. It’s hard.

‘Sometimes I do show a little bit of emotion, but inside I obviously want to win. Everyone keeps saying to me sometimes I’m too nice, but you can’t be too nice when I’ve been to big finals.’

Hawkins has dismissed this notion that he is too nice before, telling the Talking Snooker podcast in 2023: ‘I can see why they say that sometimes, but I just don’t think that’s true really.

‘You’ve obviously got to be ruthless when you’re on the table, show a little bit of aggression I suppose, that makes sense. Fire yourself up and give yourself a kick up the bum when you’re out there.

‘But off the table there’s loads of great sports stars that are nice people and treat people well, but are absolutely ruthless winners. I can see why they say it but I don’t think it’s true.’

World number one Judd Trump sees Hawkins as a player who could easily have won double what he has, but has faced tough draws and took time to build up confidence in himself.

‘I think he’s a player that probably should be maybe pushing eight, nine, 10 [ranking titles]. I think he’s that kind of player,’ Trump said at the recent Players Championship. ‘I think he’s been unlucky in some of the big events. Other players have had easier draws in finals, semi-finals.

‘I don’t know what it was, but maybe the first 10-15 years of his career, he probably lacked a bit of confidence. I think if he had that from the start, he would have won a lot more.’

The Hawk showed that he was ready to fight just by playing in Wales last week, having come very close to pulling out due to a back problem.

The likes of Mark Selby and Neil Robertson convinced him to play and he is very glad they did, as he climbs to number nine in the world rankings.

‘I suppose they’ll want a big of commission now!’ Hawkins joked. ‘I was that close to pulling out, but they said to give it another couple of hours, take some painkillers, and thankfully it started easing yup as I was playing. Thank god I stayed!’

It was a brilliant win for Hawkins but a disappointing day for Lisowski, who appeared to have run his race in an epic 6-5 semi-final win over John Higgins on Saturday night.

That victory saw Lisowski claim the BetVictor bonus of £150,000, which is handed out to the best performing player over the four Home Nations events.

It was a great achievement, and done in remarkable fashion as he made a stunning break in the decider to beat the legendary Scot, but it seemed to take its toll on him in the final.

‘I was gone, to be honest,’ he said of the afternoon session. ‘I was very poor. I was trying my best, but maybe a hangover from last night. I didn’t drink but you know what I mean, I went through a lot.

‘Barry was by far the better player today and fully deserves his win. He’s a great guy, I’m very happy for him.

‘I just couldn’t sleep last night, my eyes would not close, I had so many things going through my head. It was like a final for me because it was so built up and I was so relieved when I won. The way I won, to beat John, but I’m not taking anything away from Barry today, I’m not making any excuses.

‘I gave it my best today and got beat 9-5, bashed up in the first session, made a game of it this evening, but congratulations to Barry, I thought he played fantastic.’

It was a slightly strange spectacle for Lisowski to be lifting the BetVictor bonus trophy in front of the audience after winning a semi-final and seemingly did cost him the following day.

Victory for Hawkins means he is now on course to play at the Tour Championship in Manchester later this month, while Lisowski could still crash that party.

The £150,000 bonus does not go on his rankings, but the £45,000 runner-up prize does and sees him climb to number 14 on the one-year rankings.

The top 12 on the one-year list go to the Tour Championship, with one event coming up before the cut-off, at the World Open in Yushan, starting on March 16.

Up to number 18 in the world rankings, there is also a chance to burst into the top 16 in time for the Crucible and avoid World Championship qualifying.

Ding Junhui is in danger of dropping out of the top 16 having lost in World Open qualifying and not reaching the Tour Championship.