Barry Hawkins has missed out on a place in the Championship League snooker finals.

The Hawk finished bottom of Wednesday’s four-player group that included world no.1 Judd Trump but he had the chance to top it in a deciding final game.

Hawkins needed to win that final group match against Ryan Day to progress.

His opponent only needed a frame to top the group and Hawkins conceded the opener to hand Day - the lowest ranked player in the group - a route through to the final

It ended two frames apiece, and Hawkins impressed with a 114 break in the second, but he was heading home afterwards while Day goes on to the final group of four.

Day had earlier sprung a surprise in the first match with a 3-0 triumph over world champion Trump.

Hawkins’ challenge started with a 2-2 draw against David Gilbert after rescuing a point from the jaws of defeat. He had been two frames down and 64-0 behind in the third before a 130 clearance got him back in it. He won frame four to salvage a draw.

Trump won the first frame against Hawkins in their match, with a break of 51, following a poor miss from the Kent man. The Ditton Dynamo sunk a long brown, however, to level it up.

A break of 48 saw Trump go 2-1 up and he won the next to claim a 3-1 win.

Hawkins’ only hope of topping the table in the final game was to have won 3-0 but realising he couldn’t catch Welshman Day in the opening frame, the Kent player conceded, meaning the rest of the game was merely an exhibition.

Hawkins had topped his qualifying group on Sunday to progress but admitted his preparations hadn’t been great. But he was grateful for some action.

He said: “Two and a half months is a long time off, we’re not used to that, so it was nice to get back into some sort of routine again.

“It’s all good practice and a chance to earn some money. I didn’t know anything about it until a couple of weeks ago. It’s a bonus tournament for us all and maybe a test run for what is to come.”

The event is taking in place at the Marshall Arena in Milton Keynes, behind closed doors. All players are tested for Covid-19 before taking part.

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