Barry Hawkins admits his German Masters semi-final defeat to Judd Trump earlier this season was ‘devastating’ but fancies his chances of causing an upset and gaining revenge at the Tour Championship on Thursday.

The Hawk looked set to soar into the final at the German Masters in January, flying into a 5-1 lead over the world number one in a race to six, making breaks of 140 and 101 in the process.

Then came an almighty ressurgence from Trump, knocking in two breaks of 131 and another of 100 to win the next three frames. Hawkins had a great chance to claim victory in the 10th, but a missed red still lingers in his memory as it ultimately cost him the match and a place in his first ranking final since 2018.

The 41-year-old has had painful defeats in his career, notably in a World Championship final, but admits that the recent loss to Trump was very hard to take.

“Yeah, 5-1 up against Judd then he went mental for three frames and I didn’t see a ball,” Hawkins told Metro.co.uk.

“Then I was in and should have won 6-4, missed a red to middle, I won’t forget it. I didn’t twitch or anything I just got ahead of myself, thinking “if I pot this I’ve got a few more open reds,” I was in a good position. He made an unbelievable clearance and then the last frame I was under it.”

“I was devastated to be honest with you, because it was Jack [Lisowski] in the final, looking to win his first event. I’ve got a bit more experience than he has and I would have fancied winning. You never know because Jack’s a great player as well, but it’s one I felt got away.”

Hawkins finds himself in the top eight of the one-year list and in the Tour Championship this week thanks to a very solid season with the peaks of two big semi-finals. The other came at the Players Championship and proved to be a similar experience to that at the German Masters.

Barry was 3-0 ahead of Ronnie O’Sullivan in that contest and went on to lose 6-4, although he says that didn’t hurt nearly as much as the German Masters defeat.

“Against Ronnie I was in control then, again, didn’t see a ball for three or four frames, I should have pushed on when he was struggling early at 3-0, but another one that got away.”

“It was a bit disappointing because I haven’t beaten Ronnie for about 20 years! Obviously disappointing in both matches, but they’re great players so you can’t beat yourself up too much. At my stage of my career it would have been nice to have a chance to lift another trophy.”

“The one against Ronnie wasn’t so bad, but the one against Judd was really hard to take because it was just one ball. That red and it was probably game over and being 5-1 up, playing good stuff…It was hard to take, took me a few days, but it’s all part of it, how quickly you bounce back. It’s not the first time and won’t be the last that it’s happened, but it is hard to take.”

The Hawk knows he has a tough task ahead of him with Trump in the quarter-finals at Celtic Manor on Thursday and is full of respect for the world number one.

However, he is well aware he can beat him, as he has done numerous times before, and fancies causing a substantial upset.

“Judd is only one of a few players who could play that well in that situation to come back at me in the German,’”said Barry.

“He’s playing that well, got all that confidence, plenty of other players would have fallen away, but he’s playing like a machine and has that belief and desire to win, which is hard to come by.”

“He’s such a good potter, has improved no end and his all-round game is unbelievable, he’s got such a great temperament. Such a dangerous opponent, sometimes you don’t know how to play against him.

“Having said that…I’ve played them all and beaten them all. Ronnie’s the one I’ve got a really bad record against, but a lot of people can say that. I’ve beaten Judd a number of times, I know I’m a massive underdog, but I don’t fear him. It’s about how I play and control myself on the day”

“I know it’s a tall order because he’s flying and he’ll fancy the job big time but hopefully if I can play my game I’ll be hard to beat.”

Hawkins has had his best season in the last three years, as shown by his qualification for the Tour Championship for the first time this season.

Hawkins takes on Trump over two sessions at 1pm and 7pm on Thursday.