- Joined
- May 8, 2002
- Posts
- 439,050
- Reaction score
- 44
You must be registered for see images attach
Luca Brecel has a curious Crucible record with six first-round defeats and one world title - Asadour Guzelian/Guzelian Ltd
“I honestly don’t know what he is doing with his career… I haven’t got a clue,” declared Stephen Hendry earlier this snooker season, upon attempting to assess Luca Brecel since he lifted the world title two years ago.
Brecel, you may remember, is the flamboyant ‘Belgian Bullet’ who evoked comparison to Alex Higgins and Jimmy White for the swashbuckling way that he became snooker’s first world champion from continental Europe.
It had involved arriving at the Crucible for his first-round match against Ricky Walden after not picking up his cue for more than three weeks. He would then drive home to Belgium three times during the tournament, which included an all-night drinking session between dramatic victories against Mark Williams and Ronnie O’Sullivan before producing the greatest ever Crucible comeback in the semi-final to overhaul a 14-5 deficit to Si Jiahui. The granite Mark Selby was then duly dispatched 18-15 in the final with five century breaks on a spectacular last day of the tournament.
It felt like the launch of a new era in snooker. But Brecel has not won another tournament since. He has sunk to 42nd on the one-year world ranking list and seems to have made more headlines recently for his stated ambition of completing an Ironman triathlon than anything on a snooker table.
And, so, to paraphrase Hendry, what was he doing? “I was probably in Majorca cycling in the sun,” says Brecel, looking tanned, trim and completely relaxed upon his arrival in Sheffield ahead of his first round match against Ryan Day.
It should be stressed that Hendry is one of his biggest fans – he says that Brecel plays snooker “how it should be played” – but seems generally baffled by his outlook. Hendry famously put in daily seven-hour practice shifts and would unapologetically state that winning came before anything else in his life.
Brecel smiles when I suggest that other players don’t seem to understand his laid-back outlook. “I’m the same,” he says, “I can’t understand them so it’s normal. They are so different from me; they always want to win, win, win.
“I’m not that attached to winning. If I lose, it’s OK, I go home. I have a good life. They should not worry about me. If you attach yourself too much to it you are going to get pressure.”
‘I can play badly then suddenly not miss for five frames’
It is an outlook that has informed a brand of snooker that can make even O’Sullivan or Judd Trump seem positively cautious. “There’s no one like me – no one plays the game like I do,” says Brecel. “I play very open, very attacking. I like going for crazy shots. Even if I miss them it’s still good. All the other players, maybe, are a bit too much pressure on themselves – playing like it’s life or death.
“I play different. I always enjoy it when it is not too serious. I always loved watching Ronaldinho playing football. I need to stay interested. Some players are a bit boring maybe. We need to keep it entertaining. I’m always going to play like that, I don’t see any reason to change it. It is the perfect way to play this game.”
Brecel has certainly had both O’Sullivan and Hendry purring in appreciation of his shot-making. O’Sullivan immediately told him that he was good enough to win the tournament when he won seven straight frames in their 2023 quarter-final to turn a 10-6 deficit into a 13-10 win in the space of just 89 minutes. “I love watching him – it’s just the thud when he hits the ball,” said O’Sullivan. Hendry described Brecel’s deep screw from a brown along the cushion at the Masters in January as one of the best shots he had ever seen during almost 50 years playing and watching snooker.
“Cue power is a big thing – if you have that, you can do so many things with the cue ball,” explains Brecel. “You are not really restricted, so that’s fun. I just enjoy playing shots with spin, loads of side. That’s the way I keep it fun. I can do things no one else can do actually, even Judd Trump. Maybe I should film sometimes in practice. I do some crazy things.”
But is all-out attack really the most effective way to play? “Yes, in the long-term because you are going to win matches easily,” he says. “Once I have settled down [in a match], it feels like practice and it’s a nice feeling. You have more chances to play well and entertain the crowd. If I don’t play well then you will get easy chances against me. I’ll take the consequences. I can play bad for three frames and then suddenly I can not miss for five frames.
“It’s always unpredictable but my career is good so far. I’m happy where I am. The way I won it was quite special… quite incredible. I don’t think it will ever happen again the way I did it. Crazy comebacks, big breaks, crazy potting… good memories.”
Brecel now divides his life outside of tournaments between his home on the Belgium-Netherlands border and Majorca – “a beautiful island with lovely people” – where he loves to spend long days cycling and running. He is up to 100km on the bike and running as far as 15km but says that eventually completing the Ironman itself (2.4 mile swim, 112 mile cycle, 26.2 mile run) is “not a big goal” in itself but more about the associated benefits. “Eating more healthily, losing a bit of weight, having a routine, that’s more important to me,” he says, comparing it to a form of mindfulness.
You must be registered for see images attach
Brecel believes his ultra-attacking approach will pay dividends in the long run - Asadour Guzelian/Guzelian Ltd
Brecel will again travel to Belgium between matches for however long he lasts at this year’s World Championship, a journey of nine hours via the Channel Tunnel. He even flew from Belfast to Majorca and back between matches earlier this season at the Northern Ireland Open so that he could get out on his bike in the sun. He still has the Ferrari he bought when he triumphed in 2023 but his dad, Carlo, does most of the driving to and from tournaments. “I get bored if I stay here [in Sheffield],” says Brecel. “I just like being home, close to my friends. I need to have something else in my life. I prefer that – it’s not a big deal, just one long drive. If I win it, I just go home and the next day will be the same as yesterday.”
And what is an average day at home in Belgium?
“Always the same, very chilled; wake up, take a coffee, do some running or cycling, go to my parents house maybe, have a little soup, then I go to some friends, have some dinner, play some darts. Always fun.”
So where does snooker fit in? “Maybe after my coffee, just play maybe one or two hours. I just play when I want to. The last few months I have been playing every day. No reason. I just like playing sometimes and I’m enjoying it. I feel like I’m close to my best – I’m just not showing it yet on the match table but that will come. I’m quite sharp, so we’ll see how it goes.”
‘When I was younger I was bad when I lost’
Brecel began playing snooker aged nine at the Snooker Sports club in the middle of Maasmechelen, a town of some 40,000 with a strong coalmining history, before devoting up to 12 hours a day to practice in his teens. By the age of 13, he was good enough to make a 137 total clearance during an exhibition against Hendry, whose only contribution to the frame was his break-off. Brecel was the youngest ever Crucible debutant shortly after his 17th birthday in 2012. But he did not make the impact that had been expected and struggled with anxiety that would cause him to hyperventilate. His seven previous visits to the Crucible have involved six first-round defeats alongside that one magical run to the title.
“When I was younger I used to be quite bad when I lost but now, because you know how well you can play, you are not really worried,” he says. “You want to prove yourself when you are young. You want to know, ‘Am I good enough to play this game’?” Brecel now plays down the party-animal image that emerged after his title win in 2023 – “I did maybe two nights out between games but I don’t drink much at all… some cocktails now and then, some beers” – and stresses that he simply keeps snooker in perspective.
“Even when the draw was done, I woke up and totally forgot,” he says. “My dad suddenly said, ‘You’re playing Ryan Day’, and I was, ‘Of course, the draw was done today’. That’s the way I live. I enjoy playing … I love practising. And I do watch. I think it’s calming to watch the matches.”
You must be registered for see images attach
Brecel lifts the trophy after his 2023 Crucible triumph - Zac Goodwin/PA
With the World Snooker rankings operated on a rolling two-year cycle according to prize-money, Brecel’s £500,000 first prize from 2023 will soon be deducted from that calculation and replaced by whatever he manages in the next two 12 days. A drastic slide down the rankings, then, looks highly likely but, having only turned 30 last month, Brecel is convinced that would only be temporary. “The easiest thing to do is obviously win this tournament,” he says. “If not, then I will have to play qualifiers next year. That’s going to be tough but I will get back to the top 16 obviously.
“I know I’m good enough, it’s just about me turning up and focusing. The last few years I’ve been really living on ‘eco’… like very low energy. I always feel quite flat on the table. Maybe just getting older, just being happy away from the table. I struggled to get really motivated.
“That’s the difference. Other players, they want to play well but they don’t. I know, if I want to play well, I will play quite good. I’m not going to be worried.”
Broaden your horizons with award-winning British journalism. Try The Telegraph free for 1 month with unlimited access to our award-winning website, exclusive app, money-saving offers and more.
Continue reading...
