Luca Brecel, who arrived for his second round tie in a private jet, breezed past Ding Junhui 13-4 to set up a quarter-final showdown with Judd Trump at the Halo World Championship in Sheffield.
The Belgian Bullet touched down in Sheffield barely an hour before competing in the first session of this second round encounter. He revealed afterwards that Arsenal footballer, friend and compatriot Leandro Trossard arranged the jet he used to fly into Sheffield.
Brecel famously travelled home in between rounds during his run to the 2023 world title and he played snooker reminiscent of that run in this tie.
Ding will have to wait another year in his bid to claim a maiden World Championship crown. With 15 ranking titles to his name, he is his country’s greatest player and has paved the way for a record ten Chinese players to make it to the final stages this year.
The first session was dominated by Brecel and six-time World Champion Steve Davis described it as the best exhibition of snooker he has ever seen at the Crucible. It saw Brecel open up a 7-1 advantage, before he pushed forward in the second session to move one frame away from the win at 12-4.
That meant a swift evening’s work for Brecel, who needed just 15 minutes of play to claim victory. A break of 71 helped Brecel to cross the line with a clean kill which booked a quarter-final meeting with Trump.
The mercurial 30-year-old has an all-or-nothing track record in the World Championship. Having lost opening round ties in his first five trips to the Theatre of Dreams, he went all the way to the title two years ago after beating Mark Selby 18-15 in an epic final. David Gilbert inflicted the Crucible curse on Brecel in the first round last year.
Since making history as the first continental European to win a Crucible title, world number seven Brecel has struggled to maintain his form. He’s currently projected to slide to 38th in the Johnstone’s Paint World Rankings at the end of the season.
However, Brecel is clearly in the mood this week and if he can produce a similar standard snooker against world number one Trump, we could be set for a classic quarter-final. They get underway in their best of 25 clash tomorrow from 2:30pm. After today’s win Brecel admitted that his jet setting approach helps create conditions which allow him to thrive on the table.
Brecel revealed: “I don’t like to hang around too long. I like to get here as late as possible. Even today, I only arrived 15 minutes before the game. That has always been my way and as long as it works, that is good. I booked the plane the day before. I know Trossard the Arsenal footballer and he arranged it for me.
“I think all of the sessions were good. Even when I got the chance today, my cue ball was tight. I was happy with that because I wanted to finish it off quickly. There was a little bit of pressure to get it done and give myself time to prepare for tomorrow.
“When you come off you think you didn’t play that well, but you hear everyone saying you played an amazing session. Watching some of the frames back you can see you are playing really well. I’ve said it for a long time. I got to the quarters in Scotland and at the Masters, semis in Wales and the final in Saudi. I’ve won a lot of games. For me it isn’t a surprise. Everyone says I’ve not been playing well but I don’t get that.
“I will have to keep up my level of play. Judd is used to playing like that, but for me it is really difficult. My focus needs to be strong and my cue ball control needs to be good.”