Barry Hawkins won his first-round match 10-4 (Image: PA)
The World Snooker Tour have issued a statement after Barry Hawkins hit out at the Crucible cushions and expressed concern that the table could end up playing like a ping-pong table. The Londoner voiced his frustration at the lively sidebars following his World Championship victory over Matthew Stevens.
Hawkins ran out a convincing 10-4 winner, yet still felt uncomfortable with the Table 2 cushions, with his beaten opponent echoing the same sentiment after their encounter. 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.
“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.”
A World Snooker Tour statement read: “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.”
Hawkins, who secured his first Crucible victory in five years, will not return to the table until Friday, adding: “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.
Barry Hawkins criticised the standard of the Crucible table (Image: Getty)
“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 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.”