Belgium’s Luca Brecel on Monday said that European snooker would “explode” after he became the first player from the continental mainland to be crowned world champion.
Brecel withstood a fightback from four-time champion Mark Selby to triumph 18-15 at Sheffield’s Crucible Theatre.
Victory also meant Brecel joined Canadian Cliff Thorburn (1980), the Republic of Ireland’s Ken Doherty (1997) and Australian Neil Robertson (2010) as only the fourth modern-era world champion from outside the UK.
Photo: AFP
Having overturned huge deficits to defeat both seven-time world champion Ronnie O’Sullivan and Si Jiahui in the quarter and semi-final rounds respectively, Brecel held his nerve after Selby had eroded his lead to just one frame.
The 28-year-old Brecel, an outstanding junior talent, but a player who had never won a match at the World Snooker Championship before this year’s edition, started Monday’s concluding session 15-10 up.
However, Selby won five of the next six frames as he closed to just 16-15 behind, but the Englishman then missed a black off its spot and Brecel capitalized to move within a frame of victory at 17-15.
Brecel then demonstrated excellent cue-ball control around the black in a superb match-winning break of 112.
“It’s amazing, I can’t see any more, I don’t know why,” Brecel told the BBC.
“So tough. He [Selby] is the worst opponent to have in a final, he just keeps coming back. He’s such a fighter. When it was 16-15, I didn’t fancy winning at all, I was missing balls by a mile, but then I made a good break,” he said.
Brecel said his win would greatly improve snooker’s standing in Europe.
“It’s going to explode,” he said. “I was so nervous because I wanted it to happen for Belgium and Europe, and now I can’t wait to see what it brings, I’m so happy I did it.”
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