Hawkins Fumes As Carter Wins Epic Battle

Barry Hawkins was left "devastated" after losing his first-round match in controversial circumstances in the World Snooker Championship.

Ali Carter led Hawkins 9-6 in Sheffield and needed one more frame to win.

But the Kent pro won three frames to pull level before play was halted at 1835 BST with the evening session due.

Hawkins said: "I was devastated. After all that hard work to pull us off at 9-9 with half an hour to spare, I was gutted. I had the right hump."

Hawkins showed his disappointment with the decision of the tournament director at the time, shaking his head in disbelief.

When play finally resumed at 2115 - after Joe Swail had beaten Stephen Lee 10-4 - Carter took the decider 69-46 to reach the last 16.

Hawkins, who felt that one of the evening matches could have been postponed, said: "I had the momentum and it was a big difference.

Read Full Report At The BBC