2023-05-01 22:09:00
When Luca Brecel took the lead 16:10, the Belgian already looked like the sure winner. But Mark Selby did exactly what he had done so many times before: The four-time champion started a furious comeback. He won five frames in a row. Luca Brecel afterwards in an interview in the arena: “At 16:15 I no longer believed that I could still win.”
But he managed to concentrate fully again. When Selby missed Black in the 32nd frame, he played a 51 after failing to pot for three frames. In the end, this break was enough to make it 17:15. “I believed in myself again,” said Brecel. He then ended the match in champion style, completing the win with a 112, his fifth Century of the day.
Luca Brecel laid the foundation for the triumph in the afternoon session on Monday. He was 9:8 ahead after Sunday, but then played four centuries in eight frames. A 141 was also the highest break he had ever made at the Crucible Theater. Above all, his 40 clearance in the 25th frame was brilliant. In the meantime, Mark Selby had won two tactically shaped frames before Brecel released himself from the pressure again.
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In the first frame of the evening, the Belgian immediately extended his lead to 16:10. But then he missed a very risky blue ball in the next round. He lost his line as a result. Mark Selby, who now also took a higher risk, promptly started his race to catch up. In the meantime, he scored 329 points without Brecel getting a point. The Belgian had to wait 54 minutes before he could once again punch a ball.
In the quarterfinals and semifinals, Brecel had made impressive comebacks. First he won against the English snooker icon Ronnie O’Sullivan after a 6:10 seven frames in a row to a final score of 13:10.
“The Belgian who terrorizes the British,” the newspaper La Croix called him. O’Sullivan praised Brecel as “probably the most talented player I’ve ever seen”.
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A round later, Brecel was even 5:14 behind against the Chinese World Championship debutant Si Jiahui – and still won 17:15. It was the biggest race to catch up in documented World Cup history.
“I could cry. It’s unbelievable how I did it,” he said afterwards. Selby, world champion of 2014, 2016, 2017 and 2021, also defeated Mark Allen (Northern Ireland) 17:15 in the semifinals.
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Brecel is an unusual champion, not a smooth gentleman. Before the tournament, he “celebrated” and sometimes only went to bed at six or seven in the morning, Belgian media quoted him as saying: “I played FIFA with my friends, drank and didn’t train.”
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