Snooker Archives

Luca Brecel wins snooker World Championship title

SHEFFIELD: 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.

Luca Brecel’s victory also meant he joined Canadian Cliff Thorburn (1980), the Republic of 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, held his nerve after Selby had eroded his lead.

The 28-year-old, who had never won a match at the Snooker 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.

Luca 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.”

Something of a throwback, the crowd-pleasing Luca Brecel’s path to the final was notable for his unconventional approach to match preparation.

“It’s been a crazy week, no practice just partying, it shouldn’t be legal!”

Selby, who on Sunday became the first player to make a maximum 147 break in a World Championship final, paid tribute to the new champion by saying: “Congratulations to Luca, he’s a great talent and a great lad, a great family. Enjoy the year, you deserve it mate, you played fantastic.

“It was great to make a 147 at the Crucible, never thought I would do it in a final, the atmosphere was amazing and something I will remember for rest of my life.”

The 39-year-old, however, added: “But it’s not about me today, Luca played fantastic.

“Every time he potted a ball I fancied him to clear up but I battled — but every credit to Luca he deserves it.”

Stunning run takes Luca Brecel past Si and into world snooker final

SHEFFIELD: Luca Brecel staged one of the most astonishing comebacks in snooker history as he won 11 frames in a row against China’s Si Jiahui to reach the World Snooker Championship final with a remarkable 17-15 win on Saturday.

Luca Brecel, who won seven frames in a row after coming from behind to beat seven-time world champion Ronnie O’Sullivan in the quarter-finals, looked all but beaten at 14-5 behind against the 20-year-old Si.

But he began his astounding rally by winning the final five frames of Friday’s evening session and carried on from where he left off Saturday to end Si’s bid to become the youngest finalist at Sheffield’s Crucible Theatre and the first debutant world champion since Wales’ Terry Griffiths back in 1979.

Brecel was the first player in World Snooker Championship history to overturn a nine-frame deficit and this win saw him into his first world final, with the 28-year-old having never previously got past the first round.

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Ronnie O’Sullivan stunned out of World Snooker Championship

SHEFFIELD: Defending champion Ronnie O’Sullivan succumbed to an astounding collapse as he was knocked out of the ongoing World Snooker Championship 2023 after a shocking 10-13 defeat at the hands of Luca Brecel.

Reigning champion Ronnie O’Sullivan resumed his quarter-final clash with Luca Brecel with a solid 10-6 advantage only to lose seven consecutive frames from 10th-ranked Belgium’s cueist, who recorded a 13-10 victory at the Crucible.

Briefly after heading into the final session, O’Sullivan made a costly error as he managed to miss a black off its place; allowing Brecel to benefit. In the following frame, The Rocket made another mistake that was met with a break of 64.

Brecel then eventually managed to cut O’Sullivan’s lead to 10-9 before soon catching up with the seasoned cueist with a break of 72.

After drawing level with O’Sullivan after the 20th frame, there was no stopping Brecel as he continued his domination with breaks of 66, 78 and 63 to claim a remarkable victory.

Brecel completely outclassed O’Sullivan in the finale as the latter failed to win a single frame in the session for the first time after his 17-11 loss to Graeme Dott in the 2006 semi-final.

In another enthralling quarter-final, Northern Ireland’s Mark Allen made it to the World Snooker Championship semi-finals for just the second time in his decorated career with a hard-fought 13-10 victory over Jak Jones.

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Pakistan’s Asjad Iqbal thumps Jimmy Robertson in Snooker Shoot Out

LEICESTER: Pakistan’s professional snooker player Asjad Iqbal extended his dream run in the ongoing Snooker Shoot Out as he downed England’s counterpart, Jimmy Robertson 73-33 to book a spot in the Round of 32.

Asjad, who stunned David Gilbert in the first round on Thursday, carried on his momentum to add Robertson to the list of scalped opponents.

In the Round of 64 clash against Robertson, Asjad displayed utter domination as he outclassed his opponent with a gigantic margin of 40 points.

The Pakistani cueist was trailing by five points till the eighth minute before he scripted yet another astounding comeback and sealed the victory; courtesy of a Break of 64.

With his precision and by holding his nerves calm, it was an easy affair for the national cueist in the closing moments before the match timer ran out.

Following the victory, Asjad booked his spot in the Round of 32, the draws of which will be announced in due course.

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Saengkham stuns Williams to book World Grand Prix semi-final berth

GLOUCESTERSHIRE: Rookie Thai cueist Noppon Saengkham continued his astounding run in the ongoing World Grand Prix 2023 as he downed Mark Williams to make it to the semi-finals.

Saengkham, who knocked out former world champions Mark Selby and Ronnie O’Sullivan in previous rounds respectively, downed another former champion as he edged Williams by 5-3 to qualify for the semi-finals.

The 33rd-ranked cueist Saengkham continued to impress with his skills as he dominated Williams by 5-3 in the Best of Nine.

Saengkham was off to a flying start to the quarter-finals clash against Williams as he claimed the first two frames with utter domination to push his Irish counterpart to the backfoot.

Williams, however, soon recovered and claimed the next two frames to neutralize Saengkham’s lead.

The enthralling quarter-final kept hanging in balance after six frames with both cueists level at 3-3.

Saengkham then upped the ante and dominated Williams in the last two frames to confirm another astonishing victory in the ongoing ranking event.

The Thai cueist will now take on Northern Ireland’s Mark Allen in the first semi-final.

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Thailand’s Saengkham upsets Ronnie O’Sullivan in World Grand Prix

GLOUCESTERSHIRE: Rookie Thai cueist Noppon Saengkham handed an upset defeat to reigning world champion Ronnie O’Sullivan in the second-round fixture of the ongoing World Grand Prix 2023 here on Wednesday.

The top-ranked cueist Ronnie had a shocking end to his World Grand Prix campaign as he succumbed to an upset defeat at the hands of 33rd-ranked Saengkham.

In an enthralling second-round clash of the ranking event, Saengkham outclassed Ronnie by 4-2 in the Best of Seven.

Ronnie scripted a perfect start to the match as he scored a century in the first frame before dominating Saegkham in the next.

Following a 2-0 deficit, Saengkham soon fired back by claiming three consecutive frames to move one frame within a historic victory.

The sixth and final frame of the match saw a tight tug of war between the cueists but it was Saengkham who held his nerves calm to edge Ronnie by 68-53 and secured a sensational victory.

Following the triumph, Saengkham will now take on Mark Williams in the quarter-finals.

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Pakistan’s Asjad to face European Masters winner Wilson on February 13

LLANDUDNO: Pakistan’s professional snooker player Asjad Iqbal will take on five-time ranking event winner and World Championship finalist Kyren Wilson in the upcoming Welsh Open Qualifier on February 13.

According to the details, Asjad, who earned a two-year professional card for the World Snooker Tour (WST) is all set to compete in his first high-profile match as he will take on reigning European Masters winner Wilson.

The details further suggested that Asjad’s anticipated clash against Wilson will be held at the main arena here prior to the main round of the ranking event. The qualifying match between the two cueists will be a Best of Nine.

The Pakistani cueist Asjad is currently holding the 105th position in the WST Rankings while his English counterpart Wilson is in eighth place.

Earlier, another Pakistan cueist Farakh Ajaib succumbed to a 1-4 defeat in the ongoing qualifiers against Welsh Dominic Dale.

Ajaib replaced China’s Chen Zifan who is currently suspended amid a match-fixing investigation.

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Trump downs Williams to seize second Masters title

LONDON: English cueist Judd Trump secured a thrilling 10-8 victory over his Welsh opponent Mark Williams to capture his second Masters title.

In a thrilling final of the championship, the charismatic Trump outpowered the experienced Williams by the scores of 10-8 in the Best of 19 to win his first Masters title since 2019.

The see-saw battle between the two cueists went right down to the wire before Trump won the last three frames to complete a close victory over Williams.

The two potters remained involved in a tug of war throughout the match with Trump pulling ahead and Williams level or vice-versa till the 16th frame.

After 15 frames, Williams was just two shy away from victory but Trump displayed sheer dominance in the next three frames to capture the title.

Trump scored three centuries, including seven fifty-plus breaks. Williams, however, scored the best break (138) of the match in the first frame.

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IBSF World Snooker Champion Ahsan Ramzan ties the knot

KARACHI: The second-youngest International Billiards and Snooker Federation (IBSF) World Snooker Champion Ahsan Ramzan tied the knot in a close wedding ceremony a few days ago here.

According to the details, the wedding ceremony of the young cueist was held here a few days ago and was attended by Ahsan’s close friends and relatives.

The details further suggested that Ahsan’s bride Romaisa is currently a matriculant.

https://twitter.com/Shoaib_Jatt/status/1613581148973666321

It is pertinent to mention that the young snooker sensation Ahsan impressed with his precision in the IBSF Snooker World Championship 2022 as he scripted an astounding comeback in the final against Iran’s Amir Sarkhosh from 4-2 down to eventually triumphing 6-5 and became the second-youngest cueist to seize the prestigious title.

Furthermore, Ahsan is only the third snooker player from Pakistan to win the international amateur world title after Muhammad Yousaf, who achieved the feat in 1994.

Notably, Ahsan has already won the national U17, U18 and U19 titles, while he ended up as runner-up in the U21 championship.

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Lisowski stuns Higgins to seize quarter-final spot in Masters

LONDON: English cueist Jack Lisowski stunned two-time champions, John Higgins, 6-3 in the first round of the ongoing Masters 2023 to storm through to the quarter-finals.

Lisowski, who had not won a match in the tournament before, fired all cylinders to make his maiden victory in the championship a big one as he downed former World Champion Higgins 6-3 in the Best of 11.

Lisowski made his intentions clear by sailing through in the first two opening frames as he dominated the Scottish legend by 68-40 and 89-5.

Higgins, however, made an astounding comeback in the match by completely outclassing Lisowski with the highest break of 142 to cut the latter’s lead by 2-1 but only for Lisowski to display alike performance in the fourth frame to restore his two-frame lead.

The two-time champion Higgins once again responded by winning the next frame but Lisowski soon moved one frame within the triumph by claiming two frames in a row.

Higgins again attempted to script a comeback by winning the eighth frame with 70-31 but Lisowski, fuelled with momentum seemed unaffected by it and dominated the former in the ninth frame with a century break to claim a historic victory.

Following his astonishing victory over Higgins, Lisowski now faces Iranian trailblazer Hossein Vafaei in the third quarter-final.

Meanwhile, in another round-one match, reigning World Champion Ronnie O’Sullivan thrashed rookie Luca Brecel to book his spot in the last eight.

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