By Elliott West
“You can’t keep him down”.
Eurosport
Luca Brecel. Photograph courtesy of World Snooker.
Introduction
I first saw Luca Brecel play on television when he appeared at the now-defunct Power Snooker several years ago and I was immediately impressed by his natural ability. Yes, he was rough around the edges but he had the makings of being a great snooker player in the near future. Within a few years, Luca turned professional in 2011 and he soon became the first player from mainland Europe to win a ranking tournament, the 2017 China Championship, beating Shaun Murphy 10-5 in the final. Since then he has gone on to win the 2021 Scottish Open and the 2022 Championship League, having won it previously in 2020. He had also reached the finals of the 2016 German Masters, 2016 Snooker Shootout, 2021 UK Championship and the 2022 UK Championship.
Maketh the Man
Luca Brecel first started playing snooker when he was nine, beginning with pool after trying it on a family holiday. He is a player that has become ravenous on a snooker table. Like a child in a sweet shop, he wants to pot everything and that probably has been his undoing for several years. His bursts of expertise won the odd tournament but he lacked consistency and I am afraid that’s what you need if you are to win the prized jewels of the snooker calendar. However, Luca was far too good a player to lie down for long and it takes just one tournament to ignite and where better than the 2023 World Championship. He defeated Ricky Walden 10-9, Mark Williams 13-11, Ronnie O’Sullivan 13-10 and Si Juahui 17-15 before facing Mark Selby in the final.
Brave and Unique
Luca reminds me of a young Alex Higgins. He isn’t scared to take on that pot that only a few players would dream of taking on and when he gets going, he is like an unstoppable steam train, breathtaking to watch and often unplayable when he is in the groove. He can pummel an opponent with a burst of opening frames and if the pockets of a snooker table were alive, they would have multiple cuts and grazes from all the balls he has powered into their pockets. Luca is a breed of player that is far and few between. Even when he sits down after missing a shot, he plays his poker face and smiles like a Cheshire cat. He just loves playing snooker and I very much doubt that he actually only practiced for fifteen minutes before entering this tournament and probably was foolhardy for getting drunk the night before he played Ronnie O’Sullivan but guess what? it paid off. He produced some of his best snooker in that match and dispatched a player that was tipped for his 8th World Championship title.
As I have said so many times before about Luca, he doesn’t care who he plays, he is just hungry for a win. Even when Mark Selby threw everything at him in the final, Brecel matched him in every department bar getting a 147 break. Yes, he still produces the odd erratic shot and occasionally loses concentration when in the balls but his brilliance is brighter than any star in a night sky. He can open up an acute middle pocket as if it was a segmented chocolate orange. The pocket holds up a white flag and surrenders.
The fact that he beat Mark Selby is amazing in itself. He is a master tactician and can strangle you in snookers tighter than a Cobra’s grasp. He is a player that never gives up until the final ball is potted. His game is like being hit by a machine gun at full blast, it is relentless, earning him the title by Ronnie O’Sullivan, ‘The Grave Digger’. Mark tried to make every nerve in Luca’s body jangle. The fact that he came back from 10-15 to 15-16, shows his dogged resilience.
However, Luca had several reserve bullets up his sleeve and at 15-17, Selby was left pondering in his chair before what could have been the frame that clinched Brecel the prized title. This was a snooker marathon that tested every nerve in the body and some more. Both players kept nailing the cue ball to the baulk cushion but it was Mark who made the first mistake. Luca smelt blood and parted the reds as if he was pulling them by an invisible wire. The tension built and built and Brecel just fed off it. A masterpiece in the making and scintillating to watch. This was an epic win for the player and his country. His 18-15 victory not only earns him £500,000, climbing to number two in the rankings but opens the floodgates for a major tournament in Belgium and many more across Central Europe. A match that ended with plenty of applause, smiles and tears.
