Barry Hawkins v Shaun Murphy: Prediction, Tips and Odds

Barry Hawkins has some useful Triple Crown memories in his favour when he faces Shaun Murphy in York for a place in the UK Championship semi-finals.

The Hawk trails Murphy in their overall career head-to-head, but has won the last three meetings between this duo at Triple Crown events.

Barry Hawkins v Shaun Murphy betting tips and predictions

Barry Hawkins to win - 6/5

Murphy leads the overall head-to-head between this experienced English duo 13-8, but Hawkins has good memories from their most recent Triple Crown clashes.

All of them have come in this best-of-11 format, with Hawkins defeating Murphy at the Masters in 2017, 2019 and 2022. He has done so in convincing fashion too, winning by scorelines of 6-1, 6-2 and 6-2.

This week, Hawkins has looked in good touch. He won four frames on the trot as he came from behind to dump out Ronnie O'Sullivan 6-4 in his opening clash.

"I just think Barry played a good match and deserved his win, so you have to give all credit to him," was the verdict from a magnanimous Rocket after losing to Hawkins for the first time since the 2016 World Championship.

In round two, Hawkins had to dig in against David Gilbert, recovering from 4-5 down to win a decider. Gilbert had a chance to win before he missed a green with the rest in frame 10 and Hawkins punished him.

Murphy, meanwhile, ousted Ding Junhui 6-5 in the last-16. The Chinese missed a black off the spot when leading 3-2 and was then desperately unfortunate to see a blue bounce back out of the pocket and go off the table when he appeared set to move 4-3 in front.

The Magician is working with 2002 World Champion Peter Ebdon in a bid to add a killer edge to his game, but doubts still linger on that score.

Hawkins has rallied well this week in York and can edge another close game.

Total Frames Over 9.5 - 10/11

Hawkins has won those three most recent Triple Crown meetings in best-of-11s needing just seven or eight frames, but this is liable to run deeper.

As noted, both players came through deciders in the last-16 and they could be in for a tense battle again.

Murphy's opener against Zhao Xintong also went the distance and Hawkins' victory over O'Sullivan required 10 frames, so this has the potential to also go the distance or very close to it.

Match Centuries Under 1.5 - 11/10

There have been nine centuries in the matches so far played by Hawkins and Murphy in York this week, but this duo are responsible for just one apiece.

O'Sullivan (two), Gilbert (two) and Ding (three) have made the other ton-plus contributions.

Those three Masters meetings won by Hawkins also yielded just a two century breaks between them.

The tables in York this week have come in for some criticism at times, with some bouncy cushions in play, and there have been lots of frames that required more tactical acumen than scoring power.

Under 1.5 match centuries is a solid proposition.

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Barry Hawkins v Shaun Murphy odds

Barry Hawkins - 6/5
Shaun Murphy - 4/6

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This article was written by a partner sports writer via Spotlight Sports Group. All odds displayed on this page were correct at the time of writing and are subject to withdrawal or change at any time.