Steve Davis lauded Luca Brecel after the Belgian produced a scintillating session of snooker at the World Championship on Saturday. Brecel dominated Ding Junhui in the early stages of their second round showdown as he ended the evening with a 7-1 advantage.
Ding began the match with a mesmerising break of 141 to take the lead but was forced to sit back and watch Brecel find his top form from thereon in. Brecel hit breaks of 121, 78, 55, 100 and 88 to win seven frames on the bounce as he put himself well and truly in the driving seat to reach the quarter-finals.
Brecel struck a remarkable shot to pot the black and break up the red balls in the final frame of the evening as he demonstrated his prodigious talents with the cue.
And BBC commentator Steve Davis, who won the World Snooker Championship six times, said: “What an effort that was, I can’t tell you how hard that is to do.”
The 67-year-old then made a massive comment about Brecel’s performance as he exclaimed: “We’ve witnessed the most amazing exhibition of snooker, in one session, I think I’ve ever seen at the Crucible.”
He added: “Not in an exhibition match, the World Championship. He’s done this to one of the greatest players that’s ever held a cue, Ding Junhui. Totally taken the thunder from that first frame. Incredible stuff.”
John Virgo, who was also in the commentary box, was taken aback by Brecel’s performance as well as he purred: “Literally just blown him away.”
After Brecel had closed out the final frame of the evening, Virgo added: “Scintillating, superb, any superlative you want to use, it might just not be enough to describe this performance.”
Davis then called for a standing ovation at the end of the session, which the crowd duly delivered.
Brecel tasted victory at the World Snooker Championship in 2023 after getting the better of Mark Selby in the final.
The 30-year-old has struggled for form in recent years, however, and has spent long periods of time training for Ironman triathlons.
He has hit the headlines in recent times due to his reluctance to book hotel stays during some tournaments in favour of flying to snooker locations on the day of matches. And on Saturday he arrived in Sheffield just hours before his Crucible showdown with Ding was due to get underway after taking a private jet from Belgium in the afternoon.
