Barry Hawkins' hopes of a maiden Home Nations event title are alive and kicking after beating Igor Figueiredo 4-0 in the English Open first round.

The Ditton potter has endured some patchy form of late but third and fourth frame breaks of 93 and 50 propelled him into the last 64 in Milton Keynes.

The 2013 World Championship finalist has been through the wringer in recent times. He advanced past the fourth round of a ranking event on just two occasions last season and slumped to a string of first and second round defeats.

Hawkins did progress to the second round of the World Championship this summer - he beat qualifier Alexander Ursenbacher 10-2 in the first round - but went down 13-9 against world No.2 Neil Robertson.

The World No.20 is determined to rediscover the form that saw him romp to the 2017 World Grand Prix title and showed signs of his old fluency at the Marshall Arena on Monday, winning the first frame against Figueiredo after notching 64 points.

A scrappy second followed but 70 points from the Hawk thwarted the Brazilian’s chances of levelling.

And then came those composed visits of 93 and 50 as Hawkins booked a second round date against Chinese player Lei Peifan.

The Kent player will take to the table again tonight (Wednesday) as he bids to improve on his recent third round exit at the European Masters, which was also held at the same Milton Keynes venue. He faces Lei Peifan in round two.

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