Ditton's Barry Hawkins admitted he struggled to adapt to the tough 19.com English Open scheduling after he crashed out in the last 16 on Thursday.

Two matches in one day proved too much for the 2013 World Championship runner-up, and he went down 4-0 to world No.7 Mark Allen having beaten Ireland's Fergal O'Brien 4-2.

Hawkins had looked in imperious form throughout the tournament – reaching the last 32 at the K2 Leisure Centre in Crawley before losing a frame with wins over Amine Amiri and Michael Georgiou – but fell short against 2018 Masters champion Allen, who notched two tons and two half-centuries.

The nature of playing twice in one day ahead of the weekend meant players had to wait long periods between games, and while quick to applaud Allen for his superior performance, Hawkins believes the scheduling had a negative impact on his display.

“I don’t enjoy having two games in a day,” he said. “I like to know when I’m playing and the hanging around drives me a little bit mad.

“I felt good in the morning against Fergal. I got a bit twitchy towards the end, but I was pleased to get the win and was really looking forward to the evening’s game.

“I just felt a bit flat to be honest and started off too slowly, but everyone’s in the same boat and Mark dealt with it really well.

"I missed a couple of balls early doors and then he really got going.

“I just needed to be a bit more professional and I just wasn’t as ready as I should've been.”

• I feel like breaking my cue!

Despite the defeat, Hawkins’ early-round performances included glimpses of his best form, and having already won the Paul Hunter Classic this season – as well as reaching the quarter-finals of the China Championship and Shanghai Masters – he has plenty to work with ahead of the busy winter period.

Next up is a mouthwatering tie with Hong Kong star Marco Fu at the World Open in Yushan, China, at the end of the month, and the world No.10 insisted his mind has already switched to his next game.

“In best-of-seven-frames matches it can be game over very quickly so I won’t dwell on it, I’ll just move on to the next one,” he said.

“I go to China next week so I’ll just go back to the practice table and do my best as usual.

“It’s nice to have a few more matches under my belt and it’s been a solid start to the season.

"I've just got to keep working hard now and not get too despondent about this one.”

Watch the English Open live on Eurosport and Eurosport Player with studio analysis from Ronnie O’Sullivan and Jimmy White

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