In the first semi-final of the 2022 Snooker Players Championship, Barry Hawkins eliminated Rich Walton 6-2, and the first final seat was determined.
On the way to advancement, Barry Hawkins defeated Zhao Xintong, who participated as the top seed in the first round, and in the second round, Barry Hawkins killed another Chinese player Yan Bingtao 6-5 by the General Bureau, defeating Chinese players in two consecutive rounds, eliminating the only two Chinese players, barry Hawkins became the Chinese snooker star of this players' championship. In the round of 4, Barry Hawkins meets Rich Walton, one of the dark horses.
After defeating Mark Allen in the first round and defeating World Championship 4-time champion Mark Williams 6-5 in the second round, Rich Walton and Jimmy Robertson became the two dark horses in the top four of this players' championship. Facing barry Hawkins, the former world championship runner-up, Rich Wharton is still an underopused side. However, Rich Walton started with a huge start, with 69 points and 60 points, and two consecutive 60+! However, in the second set, Rich Walton scored 60 points in a single shot but was reversed by Barry Hawkins.
The situation was completely reversed, Rich Walton fell into a slump, Barry Hawkins fully played the momentum, 84-24, 63-0, Barry Hawkins won the third and fourth sets in a row, from the 0-1 behind the general bureau score to a 3-1 lead. Rich Walton pulled back a set. Barry Hawkins scored 115, 61 and 75 consecutive shots to win three straight sets and quickly end the battle at 6-2.
In the top 4, Neil Robertson and Barry Hawkins are the favorites to advance to the final, and their fame and strength are also one notch stronger than the other two players, Jimmy Robertson and Rich Walton are two dark horses. Now, Barry Hawkins has taken the lead to advance to the final, and the theoretical "peak showdown" is brewing! Of course, after Rich Wharton is out, there is still a dark horse, Jimmy Robertson, and Neil Robertson needs to beat this dark horse to advance to the final.