Barry Hawkins won his first World Snooker Championship match in five years but raised concerns over the Crucible Theatre’s bouncy table cushions
Barry Hawkins had a complaint about the World Snooker Championship tables(Image: Getty)
World Snooker Championship star Barry Hawkins vented his frustration at the Crucible cushions and is worried the table could soon resemble something from a ping-pong match. The Londoner hit out at the bouncy sidebars following his victory over Matthew Stevens and World Snooker have issued a statement.
Hawkins triumphed 10-4, yet still felt uncomfortable with the Table 2 cushions, with his beaten opponent also raising similar concerns after their contest.
The Welsh Open champion said: “I don’t like slating the conditions off because the fitters do a great job. I don’t know if it’s their fault or not, really, but the cushions, for day one, they’re just coming off so much quicker than they’re going on.
“It’s obviously hard to control the cue ball then, you lose cue ball a bit more often. I mean, I don’t know what they can do, really. One minute you’re in position and the next minute you’re out of position. End of break. When you start getting in the flow and knocking breaks in and getting confidence and that’s when you see the big breaks going in for them.
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“I don’t know what it’s going to be like when people are coming in on Tuesday when they’ve had four days play. It’s going to be like a ping-pong table.”
Hawkins, who secured his first Crucible win in five years, doesn’t return to the table until Friday and added: “By then, it’s going to be even worse, so I don’t really know! Maybe they’ll change the cushions. Sometimes they do, they have a spare set and a few days in, they’ll change.
“And also, it might be where they’ve had the doors open. When they were installing it, they’ve had all the doors open, getting all the set ready and everything and then maybe they might start improving a bit, not letting all the fresh air in, if you like, and getting damp in the cushions. That can’t help, I suppose, when they’re putting it all together and all the doors are open.”
Hawkins adapted more effectively than Stevens, but made a point regarding Ronnie O’Sullivan, as he conceded: “I think we both struggled. I just managed to deal with it a bit better. The best person who gets used to the table quickly I’ve ever seen is Ronnie [O’Sullivan]. He can adapt so quickly.
“When the balls are coming off fast, I’ve seen a lot of players play shots and they’ve stopped in their tracks, can’t believe where the white’s gone and, all of a sudden, you’re out of position within that one shot through no fault of your own. So, it knocks your confidence a little bit and then, all of a sudden, you start second-guessing yourself how to play the shots.
“And that’s when you put quick strokes in and miss easy balls, that’s when it starts getting a bit scrappy and a bit horrible to watch, really. There was a lot of help from Matthew as well. He had plenty of chances and a lot of mistakes, so I can’t take too much confidence now.”
World Snooker’s statement on this matter reads: “There are always challenges in providing the best possible conditions for players as there are many factors which affect this.
“Our dedicated team of table fitters work tirelessly in delivering the best possible conditions and they are constantly monitoring the tables. We have systems in place where players can give feedback after every match.”
