LUCA BRECEL has revealed how he deliberately arrived TEN MINUTES before the start of his first World snooker final – to try and get into the mind of opponent Mark Selby.
Yet the Belgian potter, who became champion of the world three years ago when he beat the Leicester Jester, needs to win TWO qualifiers to avoid missing out on this year’s Crucible tournament.
Luca Brecel has to negotiate two rounds of qualifiers at the English Institute of Sport in Sheffield if he wants to be in the main draw of the WorldsCredit: Getty
Brecel’s victory in in 2023 was sensational as he knocked out Ronnie O’Sullivan and Si Jiahui – from 11-5 down – and then beat four-time champ 18-15 for the title.
Yet before the first of four sessions in the final, the Bullet rocked up to the venue without any practice in a pre-meditated strategy.
Brecel told his coach Chris Henry’s podcast: “Something I’ve always done when I’ve had to play really big games for the first time, like the world final.
“I always try to use the trick of ‘play as if you don’t care about being there’.
“Snooker is a lot more than just potting balls. It’s also feeling the situation. Trying to intimidate.
“Obviously you can’t always intimidate people like Selby, Ronnie (O’Sullivan) and (John) Higgins. But you can always try to do something which could help.
“Also, I turned up ten minutes before the final. The session started at 1pm and I turned up five to ten minutes just before. This was also deliberate.
“Because that was just for Mark Selby. A kind of feeling like: ‘Hmmm what’s going on?’
“Normally, if you go to the final for the first time, you want to be there two hours before and make sure you’ve practised for one hour. Seen the venue. All this kind of stuff.
“I’m not saying that Mark Selby will crumble because of that but you just try to be clever sometimes.
Brecel has taken time away from the baize and focused on Ironman triathlon trainingCredit: Getty
“He would have been practising and thinking: ‘Where’s Luca? Why is he not here already?’
“I see that in a good way of trying to play some, not mental games, but you know what I mean?”
Since that remarkable £500,000 success – the first by a player from mainland – Brecel has taken time away from the baize and focused on Ironman triathlon training and shedding some weight.
He has dropped to 46th in the world ranking following a period of issues with his “physical health”.
Now, he has to negotiate two rounds of qualifiers at the English Institute of Sport in Sheffield if he wants to be in the main draw of the Worlds, which starts on Saturday April 18.
This afternoon (Sunday) he faces Chinese Chang Bingyu, who served a two-year ban that ended in December 2024 after being caught up in a 10-man match-fixing storm that rocked the sport.
Brecel, 31, said: “Every season, I want to really get into the top eight and top-16 tournaments, like the Players Championship and the Tour Championship.
“I want to be in the real elite tournaments.
“This season I’ve skipped about eight or nine tournaments. I have not felt well. But I never use excuses. It’s just the way it is.
“Your whole career or your whole life as a young player, you just want to win the Worlds. You see that as something really special and it is.
“But once you win that, you need to be motivated by something else. So my motivation now is just to be the best version of myself for the next 15-20 years.
“I know it’s only been one season, but I’ve really missed it.
“I’m still very young, especially in the snooker world. Thirty-one is very young.
“I’ve had the experience. I’ve won tournaments already. I’ve seen the ups and the downs. I see it as a fresh start. The best is really yet to come.”
- Watch the full interview with Luca Brecel on Chris Henry’s YouTube channel.
Eze Chidiebere Paul
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