Luca Brecel faces a race against time to return to the Crucible for his second-round match with Junhui Ding on Friday. The 2023 world champion has revealed on social media that he’s still in Belgium after returning home following his first-round match.
Only on Wednesday did Brecel complete his comeback win against Ryan Day. Having trailed 5-1 in the opening session against the Welshman, he stormed back to win nine of the final frames. However, it seems he then flew back to his homeland despite only having a 48-hour turnaround before his next match.
On Instagram today, he’s written: “I’ve got a private flight booked to Sheffield tomorrow at 15:00, anyone from Belgium who wants to join?”
Despite his generous offer, fans and critics have questioned Brecel’s schedule. He’s due to get underway against Ding at 7pm tomorrow, meaning he’s likely to touch down in the UK around three and a half hours before the first break-off.
Phil Haigh, host of the Talking Snooker podcast, shared an image of ther 30-year-old’s statement on X, writing: “Luca Brecel does things his own way. He’s playing at 7pm tomorrow.”
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