.writes Chris Bailey, SportsbeatBarry Hawkins produced a late surge to battle back into his last-16 contest at the World Snooker Championship against Ricky Walden – the man he beat in the semi-finals last year,

Walden fell behind early in the first session but went on to snare five consecutive frames in dominant style, before Ditton cueman Hawkins clawed the score back to 9-7.

World No.4 Hawkins grabbed the opening three frames by chipping away with breaks in the low 40s – but Walden responded just before the mid-session interval after a tit-for-tat exchange.

And Walden reemerged to level up the scores at the Crucible, a snooker tipping the scales in the sixth frame after a break of 53 has settled the fifth.

The pair then swapped frames to end the morning’s play in Sheffield with Walden ending on a 67 – and his sharp break-building continued in the evening.

Despite Hawkins’ 69 without reply, Walden strung five frames together – including stunning visits of 109 and 81 and then 112 – to build a commanding 9-5 lead.

But Hawkins, who won the PTC Grand Finals last month, then showed some life by knocking in runs of 87 and 53 to lend himself hope heading into the final session.

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