Ditton's Barry Hawkins was delighted to exorcise the demons of Sunday’s loss to Mark King by thrashing David John 6-0 in the Betway UK Championship 48 hours later.

Hawkins had led 5-1 in the Coral Northern Ireland Open final, but the Kent potter faltered and ultimately fell 9-8 as King won his first-ever ranking event.

But he bounced back in real style at the York Barbican on Tuesday, notching the 2016 UK Championship’s first century with a 129 in the second frame en-route to a supremely comfortable win.

“It was such a nail-biting final in Belfast and I was a bit gutted to lose after the lead I had, I felt like I threw that away a little bit,” explained the 37-year-old.

“You can’t dwell on them because it’ll affect you before your next match and it was such a quick turnaround from Northern Ireland, I had to try and forget about that as quick as possible."

John missed several crucial opportunities when handed a rare chance by Hawkins, but with nerves clearly playing a part for the world No.122, it was the favourite who excelled.

After a serene start to the tournament, the world No.11 was keen for much-needed downtime before renewing his assault on the first ‘Triple Crown’ event of the year with a second-round clash this weekend.

“I didn’t know what to expect coming back from Belfast, but I played pretty solid there and didn’t really miss much – pretty straight forward in the end,” Hawkins continued.

“You can’t take anyone for granted, I have done it before and come unstuck. I needed to be sharp, treat him with the utmost respect, play the proper shots and try my best. I did that and managed to play well."

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