Luca Brecel is one of eight players who could still win the 2025 World Snooker Championship at the Crucible Theatre in Sheffield.
The Belgian Bullet coasted through to the quarter-finals with a dominant 13-4 defeat of Ding Junhui in the last 16.
Most of the heavy lifting was done during a spectacular first session in which he rattled off one classy break after another to orchestrate a 7-1 lead.
That quickly became 11-1, and although his opponent was able to avoid being beaten by a session to spare, Brecel completed the job in the first frame of the third session.
“It was good,” 2023 world snooker champion Luca Brecel told Rob Walker for the World Snooker Tour.
“I think all the sessions were good. Even today when I got the chance, my cue ball was quite tight, so I was happy with that.”
“I wanted to finish it off quickly, so there was a little bit of pressure – not to win the game, but to have time to prepare for tomorrow.
“It’s funny as a player, because when you come off, you think that you didn’t even play that well.
“But you hear everyone saying it’s been an amazing session, and if you watch some of the frames back, you can see that you were playing really well.
“Sometimes, you don’t really feel it when you’re playing. But I am playing well, I’ve said it for a long time.
“It’s not like I haven’t been playing well before this tournament. I got to the quarters in Scotland, quarters of the Masters, the final in Saudi, and the semis in Wales.
“So I’ve won a lot of games playing really well, so for me it’s not a surprise. But it seems everyone is saying that I’ve not been playing well for a long time. I don’t get that.
“I always enjoy the snooker itself. It’s just that the travelling is a bit tough sometimes, so I try to make it entertaining for myself, which helps.”
Brecel has made no secret of the fact that he doesn’t enjoy practicing much and how he ranks his other interests with an equal degree of importance.
In recent times, the 30 year-old has developed a keenness for fitness and is targeting completing an Ironman triathlon in 2028.
Success in snooker, in his mind, will only come if he is as content away from the table as he is sharp on it.
Paramount to that mentality is a close relationship with his family and friends, with many travelling with him to the various events on the calendar, including his father Carlo.
“[My Dad] has calmed down a lot the last five years. He used to be really, really nervous for every game, but now he is calm,” Brecel added.
“It’s good to have, and I’ve also got a couple of friends here. I always try to have a nice environment around me at tournaments.”
“For me, that’s still the most important – family and friends, a good life away from the table, stability.
“Snooker is just a hobby, but obviously I really want to win as well.”
Next up for Luca Brecel will be Judd Trump, who survived a late fight back from Shaun Murphy to beat the Magician 13-10 on Monday.
Brecel is guaranteed £50,000 in prize money for reaching the quarter-finals for only the second time in his career.
However, the four-time ranking event winner’s provisional end-of-season ranking continues to look perilous with the £500,000 earnings from his 2023 Crucible win to be deducted from his rolling two-year tally.
As things stand, the seventh seed would end the 2024/25 campaign ranked number 38 in the world.
More victories this year in Sheffield would aid his cause, of course.
Elsewhere, Ronnie O’Sullivan and Si Jiahui set up a quarter-final tie against one another after sealing respective victories over Pang Junxu and Ben Woollaston.
The other two last-eight clashes on Tuesday and Wednesday pit John Higgins against Mark Williams and Zhao Xintong against Chris Wakelin.
For the full 2025 World Snooker Championship draw, results, and schedule, click here.
Featured photo credit: WST
