At the World Championship, Hawkins played Ricky Walden in the second round, a repeat of last year's semi-final. The match was similar to the one 12 months earlier too, as Hawkins fought back from a 9–5 deficit to win 13–11. He built an 11–5 lead over Dominic Dale after two sessions of their quarter-final, but upon the resumption of play Dale incredibly won seven frames in a row to stand just one away from equalling the biggest comeback in a quarter-final at the Crucible. However, Hawkins regrouped and made breaks of 66 and 65 to win the last two frames and move into the semi-finals, where he faced Ronnie O'Sullivan in a rematch of the previous year's final. Hawkins trailed 2–6 after the first session and 5–11 after the second session, and lost the match 7–17 with a session to spare. Hawkins was the world number five at the end of the campaign, the highest he has ever finished a season.