LONDON (AFP) – Belgium’s Luca Brecel became the first player from continental Europe to win snooker’s World Championship as he withstood a fightback from four-time champion Mark Selby to triumph 18-15 in the final on Monday.
Brecel’s victory also meant he joined Canadian Cliff Thorburn (1980), Ireland’s Ken Doherty (1997) and Australian Neil Robertson (2010) as only the fourth modern-era world champion from outside the United Kingdom at Sheffield’s Crucible Theatre.
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.
The 28-year-old, who had never won a match at the World Championship before this year’s edition, started Monday’s concluding session 15-10 up.
Selby, however, won five of the next six frames as he closed to within one at just 16-15 behind.
But the Englishman then missed a black off its spot and Brecel capitalised to move within a frame of victory at 17-15. Brecel was first in come the next frame and then demonstrated excellent cue-ball control around the black in a 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.”
Asked what his win would mean for European snooker, former child prodigy Brecel replied:
“It’s going to explode, 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.”
