If you read the list of snooker world champions, you might think that a winner from the British Isles is part of the rules of billiards.
The champion has come from England 15 times since 2000, four times from Scotland and three times from Wales. For a long time only the Australian Neil Robertson, who was crowned in 2010, was able to intervene – and since Monday evening Luca Brecel, who secured his first world title with a 18:15 victory over Mark Selby.
The 28-year-old became emotional after his coup and cried in his seat. “It’s going to explode in Belgium. I really wanted that to happen. I really wanted to do it for Belgium,” said Brecel immediately after the final, which became really exciting again in the closing stages. “At 16:15 I didn’t believe in myself anymore, I missed so much. It’s really a great feeling to have made it after all,” summed up Brecel.
A world champion from Belgium? Is such a coup also possible for Germany? Snooker expert Rolf Kalb doesn’t think this comparison is fair. “Belgium is not a small snooker nation. Other Belgian players have already made an impression at the professional level, most notably Björn Haneveer. Belgium has a long and rich tradition of billiards and Belgium has always had the BBC terrestrial. So you had the chance to follow top snooker back then,” said Kalb of the German Press Agency. “That worked.”
