Barry Hawkins’ World Championship bid is over at the first hurdle.

Ditton’s Hawkins was beaten 10-9 by Hossein Vafaei at the Crucible on Sunday after a disastrous safety shot left the table open in the final frame and the Iranian took advantage with a break of 73.

Although he has impressed in the other two Triple Crown events in recent seasons, reaching the Masters final in 2022 and the UK Championship finale in 2024, Hawkins’ defeat in Sheffield was his third first-round knockout in his last three Crucible appearances.

Last year he lost 10-8 to Ryan Day and in 2022 qualifier Jackson Page sprung a surprise winning 10-7. Hawkins failed to reach the Crucible proper in 2023, losing to Jak Jones in qualifying after dropping out of the world’s top 16.

After a solid start, with three wins in the first four frames, Hawkins never trailed until losing the final frame but couldn’t extend his lead by more than two and Vafaei registered three century breaks to level the match at 6-6.

The world No.11 won the next two, a break of 87 in the 13th on his way to a 135-0 score - his best of the contest - but a target of two frames for a place in the second round proved out of reach.

Vafaei took frame 15 83-0 and a break of 110 brought him level for the fourth time. A run of 106, Hawkins’ best of the match, put him in the driving seat once more, but that was as good as it got as the world No.24 edged frame 18 66-43 to set up the decider and he held his nerve when Hawkins opened the door with his wild safety play.

Mark Williams awaits Vafaei in round two.