Ditton's Barry Hawkins admits it himself – perhaps if he was more of a self-publicist, he would get the recognition his remarkable Crucible record deserves.

A first Betfred World Snooker Championship title this year would certainly go some way to rectifying that and Hawkins is starting to allow himself to dream after moving into the semi-finals for the fifth time in six years and a match against Mark Williams or Ali Carter.

He did so with a complete and utter 13-5 demolition of bookies’ title favourite Ding Junhui in the quarter-finals – wasting little time in securing the two frames he needed on Wednesday morning to convert an 11-5 overnight lead, rounding things off with a classy break of 117.

The 39-year-old even attempted to pot the final black of that break without looking – a rare showboat attempt from one of snooker’s steadiest players – although, perhaps tellingly, he missed.

“I just turned my head around because my cousin and a couple of friends were up in the crowd,” said Hawkins.

“I was just enjoying myself at the end – it was nothing against Ding, it was just a bit of fun. I missed it anyway, so it didn’t look too good!

“I could see my cousin filming it on his phone as he always does, so I gave him a little wave. It’s nice to have them here.”

Humble he may be but since 2013, Hawkins has now won 18 matches at the Crucible – that is more than any other player, including Mark Selby, who has won three world titles in that time.

Yet even once pre-tournament favourites Selby and Ronnie O’Sullivan suffered early exits in Sheffield last week, no one was mentioning the world No.6 as a potential winner.

Such is life when you haven’t got multiple world titles under your belt like a John Higgins or Mark Williams and you’ve not been anointed as the future of the sport for many years like a Ding or a Judd Trump.

But Hawkins has oodles of experience at the business end of this tournament and believes he deserves far more credit for his accomplishments, even from himself.

“I never praise myself enough to be honest with you,” he added. “I’ve got to take some credit for why Ding struggled in our quarter-final.

“I put him under pressure and he wasn’t used to that in this tournament. I should give myself more credit and I’m proud of myself for that.

“I can have a little think about maybe winning it now we’re in the one-table set-up. But I’ve been here so many times before and even though I’m playing well now, I know how easy it is have a bad session and then before you know it you’re going home.

“I can’t get too carried away because I know what can happen. But I’m in the semis, there are only four of us left and I’ve got a chance.

“I’ve knocked out the favourite, so I must be favourite now – get in there! I’m not getting too carried away. When you get to this stage it’s only halfway in terms of frames.

“The main thing is I’m still here and if I play like that, I’ve got a chance. Hopefully my experience plays a part.”

Watch the snooker World Championship LIVE on Eurosport and Eurosport Player with Colin Murray and analysis from Ronnie O’Sullivan, Jimmy White and Neal Foulds.