A brilliant Luca Brecel battled through a group of death to qualify for the semi-finals of the Champion of Champions – and needed to call on a multitude of qualities to make it happen.
The Belgian blitzed past Judd Trump 4-0 in less than an hour with a masterclass of potting before surviving an almighty fightback from world number one Mark Selby.
Brecel led the recently crowned International Championship winner 5-2 before being pegged back to 5-4. Selby was only a few balls away from forcing a decider until Brecel produced the best clearance of the week wrap up the match. It was cool, calm and collected.
There were moments during these victories where Luca looked like he’d really come of age. He mixed up his ability to pot outrageous balls, battle hard in the safety department and produce pressure breaks with ease to get the job done. He is edging closer to becoming the complete player.
While it’s easy to get carried away with Brecel’s quality, it’s important not to devalue the enormity of his passage to the last four here as he came past the world’s two most consistent players. No one else will have a tougher route than him.
This season already looks ominously like Brecel’s magical breakthrough year. He is willing to take on the biggest names in the game with a real spring in his step and without even an ounce of fear.
This game is all about belief after all and there appears not to be even a single moment where he looks like he lacks that killer confidence.
Brecel’s progression is so astounding that he arguably goes into his semi-final clash with Shaun Murphy as favourite. It won’t be a match where either player shies away from a pot – it will be all out attack.
The Belgian already has that all-important first ranking title in the bag, but a win here would be an even bigger statement of his intent in the game in the years ahead.
