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Barry Hawkins also reached the final of the Masters last month, where he was beaten by Neil RobertsonBarry Hawkins reached the final of the Players Championship with a 6-2 win over Ricky Walden in Wolverhampton.
The 16th seed began slowly and lost the opening frame but took advantage of an error-strewn display from Walden to lead 3-1 at the mid-session interval.
Walden responded to reduce the deficit, but Hawkins took the last three frames with breaks of 115, 61 and 75.
Earlier Jimmy Robertson shocked defending champion John Higgins 6-4 to reach the semi-finals.
Higgins went 2-0 up and missed the black for a 3-0 lead to spark a comeback from Robertson, who reeled off breaks of 58, 57 and 59 to go 3-2 ahead.
Higgins levelled with a break of 68 but Robertson hit the game's first century to move back into a lead he never relinquished.
The 35-year-old will play namesake Neil Robertson in the second semi-final on Saturday.
English (US)