Mark Allen has been dumped out of the Masters after succumbing to a 6-0 hammering at the hands of two-time finalist Barry Hawkins.
Allen, who is widely considered as being this season's stand out performer struggled to get going in the face of an excellent potting and safety display from the Kent cueist.
Hawkins, who was runner up here last year, hardly gave Allen a chance and capitalised on a number of uncharacteristic errors from the Antrim man. Defeat today means Mark Allen is still yet to win a match at the Masters since he won the tournament back in 2018.
After the match Allen acknowledged Hawkins was simply the better player on the day, "I didn’t see a ball for a lot of that match.
"There were a couple of chances, but along with a match against John Higgins it was the best safety I have seen as a pro – phenomenal.
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"So it’s hard to be too harsh on yourself when you haven’t played that badly, however disappointed you are. It’s not often I get whitewashed, that shows how well he played. I just got completely bashed up today."
The treat for Barry Hawkins is a quarter-final tie against either Judd Trump or Ryan Day. They play their first round tie tomorrow afternoon.
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