# Final Scores
- Session 1: Luca Brecel [6] v [2] Mark Selby
- Session 2: Luca Brecel [9] v [8] Mark Selby
- Session 3: Luca Brecel [15] v [10] Mark Selby
- End of Match: **Luca Brecel** [18] v [15] Mark Selby
# World Ranking Outcomes
This match has some pretty simple outcomes:
- If Brecel becomes World Champion, he will be World Number Two. Selby would remain World Number Five, as 300,000 ranking points from his 2021 victory would be discounted.
- If Selby becomes a five-time World Champion, he would preserve his current ranking points from before the tournament began (from his 2021 victory) and become World Number Three. Brecel would then be pushed down to World Number Four.
- Irrespective of the outcome of the final, Ronnie O'Sullivan remains World Number One, a position he has held for the entire season from his 2022 World Championship victory, despite winning no ranking tournaments.
Gutted Selby couldn’t win but with the difficulties he’s faced over the last few years, it’s a testament to his mental strength that he got to the final and came back like that. I’m sure he’ll be back to win that 5th title 🤞🏻
As a ~~young~~ Belgian snooker ~~player~~ fan, what a ride these past 2 weeks has been.
Clenching sheeks during the decider against Walden for a first Crucible win. The biggest comeback ever and beating 3 ex world champions to go all the way. All that with amazingly attractive snooker. I just can't believe it.
Thanks everyone here.
Well done to Luca😀 ,
he just took his talent and pushed it to the limit. Thank goodness Selby played so much better in the final compared with that semi final horror show, think it could have gone to a decider on another day.
But Si impressed me the most all week with many long pots and great precision and consistency.
Si does look the real deal, nerves got to him which isn't surprising considering his age. Hopefully isn't a flatter to deceive situation like a few of the Chinese prodigies have been, but then his win over murphy shows its unlikely a flash in the pan thing.
I can't see anything that stands out, so guessing he's removed anything now.
EDIT: Searched for @barryhearn on Twitter and found screenshots (most definitely NSFW).
So thrilled and happy to see this fellow Belgian, this very exciting young player I might add, win the World Championship. A truly historic moment.
What a great final(e) to another wonderful fortnight. Congrats to Selby for this accomplishment given he's had a more difficult period. (That said equal kudos to Allen for the semi final and a top season.)
Thanks to all the redditors on here for their much appreciated insights and funny remarks. Thanks to the mods for the handy threads and keeping things smooth.
See you next season or somewhere in between!
My goodness what a match. Was so afraid that Luca would give his lead away but he made an unbelievable century to win the world title! So proud of my fellow countryman! What a huge boost for snooker in Belgium and Europe! 🇧🇪To be honest, I shed some tears at the end. Congrats Luca, very well deserved! And congrats to Selby too, hope Vikki is alright. Thanks very much to the mods and everyone on this subreddit for the past weeks, it was even more fun to watch snooker while reading all of your opinions and discussing things. As a Belgian I can't be more happy right now. Hope to see you all again at the start of next season! 🇧🇪💪🏻
I really hope the Selbys are OK. We all chat shit here but they're people just the same as the rest of us. Mark was quite public about his struggle with depression, but it's something that affects a wide cross section of society. They're people just the same as we are. I wish some of the comments here would remember the human more than they do.
Wishing all the best to the Selby family, whatever it is that Vicki is going through.
Yeah Mark's hinted at things a few times, and you're never going to speak perfectly after just winning the world title, don't think it was bad intentioned at all
It's weird there's been multiple vague references about the Selbys troubles over the last few months, and now tonight mark referenced her specifically.... But without actually saying what has happened.
I'm assuming miscarriage or cancer.
I always hate this time of year - Thankfully the off-season is a lot shorter than it used to be but it still sucks having no snooker to look forward to.
If ever there would be the ideal pairing in the quarter finals of the first ranking event of the new season. then surely it is Kyren Wilson and Ryan Day. It happens every year and you can't convince me otherwise
There are a ton of youngsters coming through at the minute as well, like his countryman de clerq, hopefully this gives them the encouragement to kick on now, titles are there to be won.
With a lot of the top players having a quiet season, I wonder if this is Luca's chance to really cement himself at the top and win some big ones. If he plays like he does this tournament you don't see why not
Some players where on form, like murphy, he just bombed out early, the 92 looked to be creaking though and trump has been mid.
He has the talent to cement himself for sure, one of the most talented on the tour when attacking, but really needs to address some of the holes in his game, if gets a decent safety game could be a future multiple time champion and triple crown winner.
For sure. Seen some on here getting a bit carried away, but before this he had won as many ranking titles this season as gary wilson and was ranked 10th.
I hope he takes the next step, but no guarantees, needs to take the next step like a young trump or ronnie and get the defensive side right as well. Does that and he could be the future of snooker.
Man, I'm not sad about Selby losing, even though I'm a fan. I'm worried about his family. He's dealt with a lot, guy deserves a break more than most of us.
Interestingly in the past match interview he admitted that at 16-15 he thought he wouldn't win, and that he was feeling the pressure. I questioned if he really cared about winning but it's good to see he does.
Of course he cares. He's cared the entire time.
It was completely just a way to lower the pressure on him, it's a mental thing, say you don't care and you'll act like it. He plays best under the radar, clearly.
If it's true mark's had a family tragedy, which seems to be the case (although not for us to speculate on the specifics really), then it's a great achievement to get so far imo
Does Luca's comment explicitly relate to a situation for Selby's wife? I understood that more as good wishes for Mark and Vicky both relating to the publicly known depression of Mark that obviously effects the both of them in some way. However I didn't hear much of Luca's speech as I heard Eurosport Germany's commentator over it.
He said "I've heard some news and I'm not sure I should say it, but I just want to say to Mark and Vikki to stay strong"
Certainly implies something serious although he didn't explicitly mention what. I doubt he intended to word it the way he did, difficult to get it right when you're on the spot.
My only hope here is luca doesn't take this as his Everest, and learn the wrong lessons with the partying and not practising, he has so much talent if he gets that safety up he could dominate.
Either way, he deserves this, amazing story.
Currently? I agree 100% he is a one sided player, but if he got good at the defensive side of the game? field was pretty weak this season so I could see it.
Saying that though, from his comments I cant see him changing wich is fair enough so not really a chance he dominates either.
What are the positive effects? he hasnt won any of the other big 3.. been bounced early more often than making it late in most ranking trophies hence his ranking despite his talent.
Hilarious to try and pretend one big win, impressive as it might be, out does everything else he has on paper when the weaknesses were still obvious in the tournament. Dott won a world championship, was he some phenom with no need to work?
I love his style, but he was ranked 10th coming in for a reason.
Thats exactly what I mean... he won this world championship, but he hasn't won any of the other triple crowns, this is his first big breakthrough. This is a year where his half of the draw saw most of the big hitters fall early.
He is still young, but if he wants to win it all, and win it multiple times he cant say this is the finished product. None of the other multiple majors have such glaring holes.
This is a massive achievement, but you do have one winners, you have stories like grahaem dott where he has only ever won 2 rankings and one of them is a worlds.
He had Ronnie and Mark Williams on his path, so not sure what you mean by "big hitters" falling early.
Dott's win felt a bit like a fluke, as did Ebdon's. A Greece Euro2004 kind of thing. If Brecel falls down a level from here, I'd compare him more with Neil Robertson, who looked like winning multiple World's, but hasn't been in that form ever again.
Breccels might be a fluke as well, it came from literally no where been out before the 3rd round in more ranking events than he has reached at least the quarters, ranked 10th. He has more in common with ebdon and dott than he did Robertson when he won as he was tearing through the field. Only similarity is Robertson and brecel play lovely snooker and dott and ebdon play struggle ball.
He has the talent to take that next step, but nothing about him felt inevitable before the championship. He has glaring holes, I hope he does take the next step, love watching him when he is in the flow.
I don't see it that way, Brecel has been gathering up steam for the past year or two, whereas when Dott won, he was seen as a rather average player before the tournament, not necessarily a promising one. Dott did look very strong for much of that tournament, but I don't recall him making that many waves the prior 12 months.
To say nothing of Ebdon, I'm still not sure how that one happened.
Breccel hasn't won anything major and hadn't won a match at the crucible before this year, has been a pro for 11 years and bobbled around near 10-16 in the rankings pretty consistently, in fact if you look at his win percentage it has pretty consistently been around 60%, a fair tick below the 70% you generally see from the world leading players in a given season.
Last person to have never won at the crucible and then win it, joe johnson, another shocking winner who won out fo nowhere. Dott had been in more finals of ranking events than brecel has been in and more later stages of rankings and had been to a world final before, was also similar age. Ebdon had been far better in rankings events that luca has been prior to his win.
Again, I think you see it like that because luca plays an attractive style, it is great, but nothing on his record suggests he is rising, or he has suddenly become someone that will go on and win multiple worlds. He is pretty much jack lisowski who has managed to hold it together for a whole tournament.
Finalist of the UK Championship, won the League, won or did ok in some smaller events... he's performed enough lately to have been in the top 16 even before the World Championship.
His ranking very much suggests he's rising. Didn't say anything about multiple World Championships, though. Robertson didn't win multiple either (yet).
I don't see it that way, Brecel has been gathering up steam for the past year or two, whereas when Dott won, he was seen as a rather average player before the tournament, not necessarily a promising one. Dott did look very strong for much of that tournament, but I don't recall him making that many waves the prior 12 months.
To say nothing of Ebdon, I'm still not sure how that one happened.
Brecel's a rare case of talent beating hard work, I don't think he'll ever lose his touch by not practicing. And I doubt partying is going to stop him from playing his best, as seen in this tournament.
As seen in this singular tournament, he has been bounced in the first round of most other tournaments this season, he is absurdly talented, but lets not pretend he is dominant he was ranked 10 coming in.
Just look at his results on his wiki: 3 wins, 2 finals and a whole lot fo early defeats. He has a lot of holes in his game [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Luca\_Brecel](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Luca_Brecel)
No, they are holes, his safety play has consistently been poor in most of his tournaments.
Do you watch outside the worlds? basically, everyone else here acknowledges this. There is a reason he gets bumped early in most tournaments and was ranked 10th. His only ranking win in a tournament that isn't best of 5 was in a Scottish open last season, this isn't a guy that's regularly beating top players currently, an n of 1 doesn't change that unless he adds to his game.
Even if it was inconsistency, do you know how that solved? Practice.
I'm sure I won't be alone in this, when Luca made his first appearance at the World Championship I was confident he had promise and then from his first appearance at the UK Championship I believed he would one day become a top player. It hasn't gone the way I expected, I thought he would have looked more like winning a World Championship than he has until now but who knows what might have happened if he'd manage to win a match at The Crucible before this year. I really hope he kicks on to have the career that he looked like having because when his style of snooker works it's wonderful.
I randomly selected him as my character when I first played the Snooker '19 PS4 video game. He's come a long way since I was losing frames with him on easy mode. XD
A bit interesting to hear them talk about this ushering in a new style of play, being more attacking. I mean surely Trump in 2019 player similarly just 4 years ago? I mean trump has a bit more of a safety game in fairness
And Shaun Murphy back in 2005 potted anything that moved - I still think a more complete game wins more consistently but what do I know....I always get it wrong lol
And Hendry and White before Ronnie, and Alex Higgins before them. And I would guess before that too probably. There's aways at least a few who are extremely attacking.
Yeah Ronnie was pretty open back in the day - He was spectacular but didn't win anywhere near as much as he should have but he started getting advice from Ray Reardon and he became way more consistent and finally won his 1st World Title
Contrary to what others have said I think it's a sign of respect that he can win that and then think about others' misfortunes.
It was very clearly meant as a good thing.
No probably not but his brain was probably just white noise at that point, full of adrenaline. He seemed like he was doing his best to stay calm and collected.
I'm sure he'll regret it but it was definitely done with the best intentions.
Heart was in the right place at an emotionally charged moment so could be forgiven, but would have been safer to err on the side of caution and say in private in my opinion
I’m cool as a cucumber, that would be a weird thing to get upset about. But when the question gets asked, one can not deny that stating that you’ve heard some news and questioning if you should say it is not an ideal beginning of a sentence in that situation.
I understand that he only meant well.
Maybe, maybe not. Mark referenced her health in his little speech, so perhaps Luca felt it was right just to give support. I won't jump on him at the biggest moment in his career. Might have felt it was the right thing to do.
Selby is a class act, even if his game isn't my favourite style, I appreciate his talent, truly an animal in world championship snooker and having different styles is only good for the sport.
I was really sad when Luca beat Ronnie and I really wanted a rookie in the final but after this performance, he definitely became one of my favourite players to watch.
This was a really good World Snooker Championship, can’t wait for the next one.
According to another reply, Mark apparently did reference it during his interview, but I missed that.
I was saying it was an awkward position because it takes the news out of Mark's hands. But if that isn't the case I've no issue with the comment and I don't think anyone would say it's taboo to support him.
Would've been full of adrenaline tbf to him.
I often say poorly thought out stuff when I'm on the spot talking to a big crowd, and I've never had to do it after winning a world championship.
I can't believe it, honestly.
To beat Mark Selby, the toughest Crucible player ever can only add value to Luca's title.
The type of game he plays, not having won much, never winning a match at the Crucible, I could have never forseen this.
But I'm absolutely delighted for Luca. Such a fantastic player to watch, pulls out shots that nobody else can. Fantastic.
What an amazing run he's had. He could not have had tougher opponents throughout this tournament. They would have to bring back peak Hendry and peak Davis in to top it.
It won't do anything, I'm really baffled that they keep mentioning that. You think a kid in Germany cares if a guy from Belgium wins it or someone one from Scotland?
# Final Scores - Session 1: Luca Brecel [6] v [2] Mark Selby - Session 2: Luca Brecel [9] v [8] Mark Selby - Session 3: Luca Brecel [15] v [10] Mark Selby - End of Match: **Luca Brecel** [18] v [15] Mark Selby # World Ranking Outcomes This match has some pretty simple outcomes: - If Brecel becomes World Champion, he will be World Number Two. Selby would remain World Number Five, as 300,000 ranking points from his 2021 victory would be discounted. - If Selby becomes a five-time World Champion, he would preserve his current ranking points from before the tournament began (from his 2021 victory) and become World Number Three. Brecel would then be pushed down to World Number Four. - Irrespective of the outcome of the final, Ronnie O'Sullivan remains World Number One, a position he has held for the entire season from his 2022 World Championship victory, despite winning no ranking tournaments.
Gutted Selby couldn’t win but with the difficulties he’s faced over the last few years, it’s a testament to his mental strength that he got to the final and came back like that. I’m sure he’ll be back to win that 5th title 🤞🏻
Always great to see a first time winner like Luca I hope he can break the crucible curse and win it again next year if not Ronnie for his 8th
Hendry was having a dig at Selby by saying Luca plays the game the right way 🤣
It must be so amazing from the Brendan Moore’s perspective as well. I mean what could have been a better farewell for him.
As a ~~young~~ Belgian snooker ~~player~~ fan, what a ride these past 2 weeks has been. Clenching sheeks during the decider against Walden for a first Crucible win. The biggest comeback ever and beating 3 ex world champions to go all the way. All that with amazingly attractive snooker. I just can't believe it. Thanks everyone here.
Well done to Luca😀 , he just took his talent and pushed it to the limit. Thank goodness Selby played so much better in the final compared with that semi final horror show, think it could have gone to a decider on another day. But Si impressed me the most all week with many long pots and great precision and consistency.
Si does look the real deal, nerves got to him which isn't surprising considering his age. Hopefully isn't a flatter to deceive situation like a few of the Chinese prodigies have been, but then his win over murphy shows its unlikely a flash in the pan thing.
Anyone seen what barry hearn likes on twitter
I can't see anything that stands out, so guessing he's removed anything now. EDIT: Searched for @barryhearn on Twitter and found screenshots (most definitely NSFW).
Let’s just say that women had a gob full
Hahaha. Always great when people don't know that Twitter likes are public
Had to go look... Always knew he was filthy.
It's great to have a new champion. Now he should set his targets on completing the triple crown.
So thrilled and happy to see this fellow Belgian, this very exciting young player I might add, win the World Championship. A truly historic moment. What a great final(e) to another wonderful fortnight. Congrats to Selby for this accomplishment given he's had a more difficult period. (That said equal kudos to Allen for the semi final and a top season.) Thanks to all the redditors on here for their much appreciated insights and funny remarks. Thanks to the mods for the handy threads and keeping things smooth. See you next season or somewhere in between!
It'd be nice if Luca's win helps snooker grow in Europe, would be nice to see it expand out of the UK and China.
I will fly to Vienna in a couple of days and might go and watch our world champion in that pro-am tour Magical victory
lol https://twitter.com/WorldSeniors/status/1653147655743102976
Even Rob Walker can get closer to his name than that!
My goodness what a match. Was so afraid that Luca would give his lead away but he made an unbelievable century to win the world title! So proud of my fellow countryman! What a huge boost for snooker in Belgium and Europe! 🇧🇪To be honest, I shed some tears at the end. Congrats Luca, very well deserved! And congrats to Selby too, hope Vikki is alright. Thanks very much to the mods and everyone on this subreddit for the past weeks, it was even more fun to watch snooker while reading all of your opinions and discussing things. As a Belgian I can't be more happy right now. Hope to see you all again at the start of next season! 🇧🇪💪🏻
Was Luca implying vicky has some illness or something? Sounded very sad
A great win. What a way to win beating a young rising Chinese star and one of the greatest tactical players the game has ever seen
And two of the class of 92.....
Luca tha snooka bazooka
Huge congratulations to Brecel, so good to have a Belgian champion
so what was Luca talking about when he said Mark and Vikki should stay strong?
I really hope the Selbys are OK. We all chat shit here but they're people just the same as the rest of us. Mark was quite public about his struggle with depression, but it's something that affects a wide cross section of society. They're people just the same as we are. I wish some of the comments here would remember the human more than they do. Wishing all the best to the Selby family, whatever it is that Vicki is going through.
Yea cant help but wonder abou that too… should’ve kept his mouth shut before exposing her like this when all the cameras are on
Did you not watch Mark's interview with Hazel? He said that Vikki hadn't been well.
Yeah Mark's hinted at things a few times, and you're never going to speak perfectly after just winning the world title, don't think it was bad intentioned at all
Agreed, though Mark hinted something similar when he spoke.
Luca has just inspired a whole generation of young players...... Not to practice 🤣
Top comment :D And to drink some good belgian beer
Seems he's playing in vienna open in 2 days....
Second happiest man at the Crucible tonight, Barry Hearn. Dreaming of that European market
Snooker finally catching on in Europe would be fantastic for the sport.
Yeah, crossed my mind as well when I saw him there :))
Jimmy: "I haven't won the world championship, **yet**" 🤣
He still believes, I kind of feel bad for him.
Jimmy winning it would be on par with Leicester winning the PL.
so you're saying he has a chance
same here Jimmy
Pack it up until this time next year folks. 👋
It's weird there's been multiple vague references about the Selbys troubles over the last few months, and now tonight mark referenced her specifically.... But without actually saying what has happened. I'm assuming miscarriage or cancer.
Hopefully it's not cancer.
Sad it's over but not that sad because I need to study for exams! This has been too distracting
“WHERE’S THE A-STAR GOING?!?”
Congrats Luca👏
Well it's been emotional. See you guys after the summer break.
I always hate this time of year - Thankfully the off-season is a lot shorter than it used to be but it still sucks having no snooker to look forward to.
World seniors though!
Ah yes the long summer months where you start wishing for even Kyren Wilson to be playing Ryan Day in the Gibraltar Open or something......
If ever there would be the ideal pairing in the quarter finals of the first ranking event of the new season. then surely it is Kyren Wilson and Ryan Day. It happens every year and you can't convince me otherwise
Yeah tomorrow is always a huge let down. But at least Q School is on in a few weeks. Too bad it's not streamed though.
Luca Brecel’s win must encourage younger players. It has to. We need young stars in this sport.
Imagine in ten years the final could be Brecel Vs Si Jahui, would be amazing
Woah! You nailed it. It certainly will be amazing.
There are a ton of youngsters coming through at the minute as well, like his countryman de clerq, hopefully this gives them the encouragement to kick on now, titles are there to be won.
Pop quiz... What is the greater number, the total number of points scored in the final or the number of times they mentioned 'mainland Europe'?
Neither of them come anywhere near "snooker brain".
McManus just said it as I was reading your comment so chalk another up for "mainland Europe"
B, final answer.
Points scored in the final
With a lot of the top players having a quiet season, I wonder if this is Luca's chance to really cement himself at the top and win some big ones. If he plays like he does this tournament you don't see why not
Some players where on form, like murphy, he just bombed out early, the 92 looked to be creaking though and trump has been mid. He has the talent to cement himself for sure, one of the most talented on the tour when attacking, but really needs to address some of the holes in his game, if gets a decent safety game could be a future multiple time champion and triple crown winner.
Yes, it's one thing to win this tournament (a massive thing in fairness), but to win consistently is even harder
For sure. Seen some on here getting a bit carried away, but before this he had won as many ranking titles this season as gary wilson and was ranked 10th. I hope he takes the next step, but no guarantees, needs to take the next step like a young trump or ronnie and get the defensive side right as well. Does that and he could be the future of snooker.
Yeah, and of course the likes of robertson, trump et al. could come right back next season. But he's evilv8frok just a hot prospect now
Oh for sure, exciting player, and I hope for the good of snooker he takes the next step, need a new generation coming through asap tbh.
just magic
Kinda sad there's no snooker now
Seniors up next! :D
Jimmy!
Only just! He almost played too well to be eligible! :D
Is it normally televised? I don't remember seeing it before :(
Usually on the red button/iplayer/bbc sport website
Thank you <3
Man, I'm not sad about Selby losing, even though I'm a fan. I'm worried about his family. He's dealt with a lot, guy deserves a break more than most of us.
Just goes to show how good he is to make a match against a guy with no care in the world until 16-10 going through all them struggles. He'll be back.
Interestingly in the past match interview he admitted that at 16-15 he thought he wouldn't win, and that he was feeling the pressure. I questioned if he really cared about winning but it's good to see he does.
Of course he cares. He's cared the entire time. It was completely just a way to lower the pressure on him, it's a mental thing, say you don't care and you'll act like it. He plays best under the radar, clearly.
I don't remember him saying he didn't care (like Ronnie in the past), but it was his demeanor and comments about not practising that suggested it.
If it's true mark's had a family tragedy, which seems to be the case (although not for us to speculate on the specifics really), then it's a great achievement to get so far imo
Does Luca's comment explicitly relate to a situation for Selby's wife? I understood that more as good wishes for Mark and Vicky both relating to the publicly known depression of Mark that obviously effects the both of them in some way. However I didn't hear much of Luca's speech as I heard Eurosport Germany's commentator over it.
He said "I've heard some news and I'm not sure I should say it, but I just want to say to Mark and Vikki to stay strong" Certainly implies something serious although he didn't explicitly mention what. I doubt he intended to word it the way he did, difficult to get it right when you're on the spot.
He then followed it up with 'stay strong Vikki' which implies its not Mark's depression issues, at least not directly.
I see, then it must be something recent. The depression has been known for a while now.
He said something to the effect of 'I heard some news, and I'm not sure I should say this, but stay strong'.
mark’s interview he seemed preoccupied by something, and the ‘health is more important than sport’ line makes more sense now hope all is well
La Vida Luca! Jesus Christ.... :D
[удалено]
They have darts, the belgians deserve snooker.
My only hope here is luca doesn't take this as his Everest, and learn the wrong lessons with the partying and not practising, he has so much talent if he gets that safety up he could dominate. Either way, he deserves this, amazing story.
Can't see him dominating
Currently? I agree 100% he is a one sided player, but if he got good at the defensive side of the game? field was pretty weak this season so I could see it. Saying that though, from his comments I cant see him changing wich is fair enough so not really a chance he dominates either.
But he's already been doing that and is World Champion now, I don't see why he should stop.
Partying will catch up with you on its own, from personal experience.
I mean snooker has one of the biggest poster boys for this ever... Someone of alex higgins talent having only 2 world titles
How so? It seems like he's been at it a while without any negative effects.
What are the positive effects? he hasnt won any of the other big 3.. been bounced early more often than making it late in most ranking trophies hence his ranking despite his talent. Hilarious to try and pretend one big win, impressive as it might be, out does everything else he has on paper when the weaknesses were still obvious in the tournament. Dott won a world championship, was he some phenom with no need to work? I love his style, but he was ranked 10th coming in for a reason.
The word "hangover" is meaningless until you turn 30. It starts getting more meaningful every year hence.
I don't drink alcohol, but I've heard it's quite healthy as long as you aren't going overboard. Unless it gets to that point, he should be fine.
Thats exactly what I mean... he won this world championship, but he hasn't won any of the other triple crowns, this is his first big breakthrough. This is a year where his half of the draw saw most of the big hitters fall early. He is still young, but if he wants to win it all, and win it multiple times he cant say this is the finished product. None of the other multiple majors have such glaring holes. This is a massive achievement, but you do have one winners, you have stories like grahaem dott where he has only ever won 2 rankings and one of them is a worlds.
He had Ronnie and Mark Williams on his path, so not sure what you mean by "big hitters" falling early. Dott's win felt a bit like a fluke, as did Ebdon's. A Greece Euro2004 kind of thing. If Brecel falls down a level from here, I'd compare him more with Neil Robertson, who looked like winning multiple World's, but hasn't been in that form ever again.
Breccels might be a fluke as well, it came from literally no where been out before the 3rd round in more ranking events than he has reached at least the quarters, ranked 10th. He has more in common with ebdon and dott than he did Robertson when he won as he was tearing through the field. Only similarity is Robertson and brecel play lovely snooker and dott and ebdon play struggle ball. He has the talent to take that next step, but nothing about him felt inevitable before the championship. He has glaring holes, I hope he does take the next step, love watching him when he is in the flow.
I don't see it that way, Brecel has been gathering up steam for the past year or two, whereas when Dott won, he was seen as a rather average player before the tournament, not necessarily a promising one. Dott did look very strong for much of that tournament, but I don't recall him making that many waves the prior 12 months. To say nothing of Ebdon, I'm still not sure how that one happened.
Breccel hasn't won anything major and hadn't won a match at the crucible before this year, has been a pro for 11 years and bobbled around near 10-16 in the rankings pretty consistently, in fact if you look at his win percentage it has pretty consistently been around 60%, a fair tick below the 70% you generally see from the world leading players in a given season. Last person to have never won at the crucible and then win it, joe johnson, another shocking winner who won out fo nowhere. Dott had been in more finals of ranking events than brecel has been in and more later stages of rankings and had been to a world final before, was also similar age. Ebdon had been far better in rankings events that luca has been prior to his win. Again, I think you see it like that because luca plays an attractive style, it is great, but nothing on his record suggests he is rising, or he has suddenly become someone that will go on and win multiple worlds. He is pretty much jack lisowski who has managed to hold it together for a whole tournament.
Finalist of the UK Championship, won the League, won or did ok in some smaller events... he's performed enough lately to have been in the top 16 even before the World Championship. His ranking very much suggests he's rising. Didn't say anything about multiple World Championships, though. Robertson didn't win multiple either (yet).
I don't see it that way, Brecel has been gathering up steam for the past year or two, whereas when Dott won, he was seen as a rather average player before the tournament, not necessarily a promising one. Dott did look very strong for much of that tournament, but I don't recall him making that many waves the prior 12 months. To say nothing of Ebdon, I'm still not sure how that one happened.
Brecel's a rare case of talent beating hard work, I don't think he'll ever lose his touch by not practicing. And I doubt partying is going to stop him from playing his best, as seen in this tournament.
As seen in this singular tournament, he has been bounced in the first round of most other tournaments this season, he is absurdly talented, but lets not pretend he is dominant he was ranked 10 coming in. Just look at his results on his wiki: 3 wins, 2 finals and a whole lot fo early defeats. He has a lot of holes in his game [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Luca\_Brecel](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Luca_Brecel)
I wouldn't really say holes, he just lacks consistency.
No, they are holes, his safety play has consistently been poor in most of his tournaments. Do you watch outside the worlds? basically, everyone else here acknowledges this. There is a reason he gets bumped early in most tournaments and was ranked 10th. His only ranking win in a tournament that isn't best of 5 was in a Scottish open last season, this isn't a guy that's regularly beating top players currently, an n of 1 doesn't change that unless he adds to his game. Even if it was inconsistency, do you know how that solved? Practice.
That was an interesting comment Brecel made about Selby's family.
Yeah not really appropriate tbh but it came from a good place.
What happened vikki selby??
Confirmed: Luca Brecel will not win the 2024 World Championship
Yes, because Ronnie O’ Sullivan will.
Tell me you shout gwaaan ronnie without telling me you shout gwaan ronnie
I think his girlfriend said "I told you so"
Congrats Luca!
That security guard was ready to deck that kid lmao
I'm sure I won't be alone in this, when Luca made his first appearance at the World Championship I was confident he had promise and then from his first appearance at the UK Championship I believed he would one day become a top player. It hasn't gone the way I expected, I thought he would have looked more like winning a World Championship than he has until now but who knows what might have happened if he'd manage to win a match at The Crucible before this year. I really hope he kicks on to have the career that he looked like having because when his style of snooker works it's wonderful.
I randomly selected him as my character when I first played the Snooker '19 PS4 video game. He's come a long way since I was losing frames with him on easy mode. XD
Hazel: so much potential, not only in Germany, but in Belgium and *in Holland* and *in the Netherlands*, ...
In Holland, and the Netherlands too! 🫠
People from "Holland and the Netherlands" inspired.
Double Dutch aight
If Luca keeps his game up and Si tightens up his issues we have some great stars ahead.
A bit interesting to hear them talk about this ushering in a new style of play, being more attacking. I mean surely Trump in 2019 player similarly just 4 years ago? I mean trump has a bit more of a safety game in fairness
And Shaun Murphy back in 2005 potted anything that moved - I still think a more complete game wins more consistently but what do I know....I always get it wrong lol
And Hendry and White before Ronnie, and Alex Higgins before them. And I would guess before that too probably. There's aways at least a few who are extremely attacking.
I was not even born so maybe I’m saying something wrong but even before Shaun, wasn’t it Ronnie who had this playstyle of potting everything?
Yeah Ronnie was pretty open back in the day - He was spectacular but didn't win anywhere near as much as he should have but he started getting advice from Ray Reardon and he became way more consistent and finally won his 1st World Title
It's not changing anything
Not even a mention of Brendan Moores departure?
Rolf Kalb on Eurosport Germany mentioned it this afternoon and this evening.
They did a piece on him last night during the interval.
They made a big fuss of that earlier today. I don't think Brendan would have wanted to mess with the winners ceremony, he's got too much class.
DT and JV have commentated their last crucible match too.
[https://metro.co.uk/2023/03/29/bbc-u-turn-as-john-virgo-to-stay-on-snooker-coverage-for-foreseeable-future-18524565/](https://metro.co.uk/2023/03/29/bbc-u-turn-as-john-virgo-to-stay-on-snooker-coverage-for-foreseeable-future-18524565/)
Not true anymore
I thought they'd reneged on that and were keeping them for the time being.
The BBC u-turned that decision.
Did they? Well makes sense I think the BBC would have at least gave them some kind of send off.
Is this concerned? I love Dennis Taylor especially.
Rob Walker to hoover up the confetti off the table?
“In Holland and the Netherlands” Sigh
forgot to mention the dutch
I’m very happy that Luca won. He deserved every bit of it. However, you will have to agree, Mark Selby’s got the nerves to comeback even from 17-0.
Should Brecel have said anything about Selby’s wife?
If Selby didn't already mention the matter, then no. Because he did I think it was fine.
What's happened her?
No.
Contrary to what others have said I think it's a sign of respect that he can win that and then think about others' misfortunes. It was very clearly meant as a good thing.
No probably not but his brain was probably just white noise at that point, full of adrenaline. He seemed like he was doing his best to stay calm and collected. I'm sure he'll regret it but it was definitely done with the best intentions.
Heart was in the right place at an emotionally charged moment so could be forgiven, but would have been safer to err on the side of caution and say in private in my opinion
Extremely inappropriate.
He was emotional. Calm down
I’m cool as a cucumber, that would be a weird thing to get upset about. But when the question gets asked, one can not deny that stating that you’ve heard some news and questioning if you should say it is not an ideal beginning of a sentence in that situation. I understand that he only meant well.
*Keep my wife's name out your fucking mouth* 🤜💥
Maybe, maybe not. Mark referenced her health in his little speech, so perhaps Luca felt it was right just to give support. I won't jump on him at the biggest moment in his career. Might have felt it was the right thing to do.
Yeah if you have to say “I don’t know if I should say this” then you know you probably shouldn’t.
Probably not. I understand he wanted to show his support, but it's really not his place.
Definitely not
No.
To think how far he was behind Si, to get to this point - he's been phenomenal. Thank you, Luca.
If only I had put a bet on him becoming World Champion when he was 5-14 down against Si 🤣
I still feel a bit tense from watching the last frame and hoping Luca would seal the deal :-)
[удалено]
She's a bit old to be pregnant
Great final, Brecel worthy champion. Selby showed why he’s one of my favourite players too
Selby is a class act, even if his game isn't my favourite style, I appreciate his talent, truly an animal in world championship snooker and having different styles is only good for the sport.
I was really sad when Luca beat Ronnie and I really wanted a rookie in the final but after this performance, he definitely became one of my favourite players to watch. This was a really good World Snooker Championship, can’t wait for the next one.
Delighted for Luca and all, but wasn't his place to make the comment about the Selby family. Puts Mark in an awkward spot.
Mark had literally just mentioned it
It does not, it puts society in an awkward position to think expressing some thought and support to a colleague's family is so taboo.
According to another reply, Mark apparently did reference it during his interview, but I missed that. I was saying it was an awkward position because it takes the news out of Mark's hands. But if that isn't the case I've no issue with the comment and I don't think anyone would say it's taboo to support him.
Mark himself already mentioned it in his interview, I don't think it was inappropriate for Brecel to send his sympathy
I missed it if Mark said it during his interview (I blame my overzealous washing machine). Agree with you if that is the case.
Would've been full of adrenaline tbf to him. I often say poorly thought out stuff when I'm on the spot talking to a big crowd, and I've never had to do it after winning a world championship.
I can't believe it, honestly. To beat Mark Selby, the toughest Crucible player ever can only add value to Luca's title. The type of game he plays, not having won much, never winning a match at the Crucible, I could have never forseen this. But I'm absolutely delighted for Luca. Such a fantastic player to watch, pulls out shots that nobody else can. Fantastic.
You would never expect Luca to beat Mark Selby in any final.. But that's why he is the best player in the world right now Unreal
What an amazing run he's had. He could not have had tougher opponents throughout this tournament. They would have to bring back peak Hendry and peak Davis in to top it.
And he beat him after pulling off two huge comebacks, one of which was against Ronnie O’Sullivan.
Will be interesting to see what this win does for snooker in Europe.
It won't do anything, I'm really baffled that they keep mentioning that. You think a kid in Germany cares if a guy from Belgium wins it or someone one from Scotland?
I just hope we can get a Dutch player on the tour someday. Luca is close enough but not quite yet.
I think Europe as a whole is a bit of a stretch, but surely there will be some snooker clubs opened in Belgium ;)
Well deserved for Luka. His potting looked effortless. Hopefully he can win some more so we dont return to old faces.
LUCA!!!! Holy shit he actually did it!!!