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Ditton's Barry Hawkins says he wants some time away from snooker.
Hawkins hit a memorable 147 in the Betway UK Championship in York last month but crashed out of the 19.com Scottish Open at the very first hurdle, delivering a scathing verdict of his cueing after a miserable 4-0 defeat at the hands of John Astley.
The three-time ranking event winner and World Grand Prix champion in 2017 has suffered a sobering fall from grace this year, extending that trend at Glasgow’s Emirates Arena in a competition he has failed to reach the second round at for the last three years.
And despite securing Dafabet Masters qualification for January, the world No.11 says he needs to step away from the table for a while if he is to discover his best form and start enjoying the sport again.
“That was rubbish, rubbish and more rubbish – it’s as simple as that really,” the 40-year-old reflected.
“I don’t know what’s happening now at the moment. I’m just not enjoying it whatsoever and I need to have a think about myself.
“I can’t put my finger on why and it’s the lowest I’ve felt in my career.
“I’m just not playing well at all so I’ll just have to go away and have a think about it all.
“I obviously won’t be packing it in for a while because I’ve got the Masters in January, and I look forward to tournaments like that – you can’t not.
“I’ll just have to wait and see what happens. I’m not optimistic one bit heading into the Masters, though.
“I don’t really want to go into too much detail into that 147 in the UK Championship, and I just need a break I think.
"I need to put the cue down for a bit and hopefully try and come back fresh for the new year.”
Chatham’s Gerard Greene was also in action under the Emirates Arena lights, suffering similar disappointment in a 4-2 defeat to the precocious Elliot Slessor.
Despite taking a 1-0 lead, Slessor’s second-frame 74 appeared to halt the world No.120’s charge, inflicting a second Home Nations ranking event defeat on him in a row after his early departure from the Betway UK Championship at the hands of Hawkins.
Watch the Scottish Open live on Eurosport, Eurosport Player and Quest with studio analysis from Ronnie O’Sullivan and Jimmy White.
