Luka Brecel

Yesterday evening I watched the new snooker phenom beat Ricky Walden in the UK Championship.
Luka is a Belgian, and considered the most promising young player.
Generally I am skeptical because a) things like that are said a lot when a new kid performs ok and b) Belgians like to underestimate other Belgians :)

But yesterday I had to adjust my opinion. Not because he won, which could be just a good day for him or a bad day for walder. It was the way he played which rang true. His style reminded me about O' Sullivan. He doesn't hesitate. Doesn't ponder difficult shots. He just walks to the tabe, looks, and shoots. During the game, he very much looked like he owned the table, in the same way that O' Sullivan can look like the Godfather of snooker.

So I just checked his wiki, and his performance in the past years has been more awesome than I thought.
Luca Brecel - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia The youngest player ever in the crucible, and beating former world champions by the score :)

The great thing is that this will probably bring snooker to a more prominent spot in the tv broadcast schedules.

Luca Brecel wasn't he the character in the "Godfather" Movies? If I remember correctly "I'd let him win too!!"

Luca brazi :)

I watched almost the entire game. The first 4 frames I thought he played a bit immature. When Walden needed snookers (I believe in the 3th frame) Luca just came to the table and was very nonchalant on each shot. After the interval he really played like a pro. Did not take to much unnecessary risks and got a good safety play.

I've seen him play in person a couple of years ago and he still plays the way he did back than. Fast and aggresive. Much indeed like my all time favorite O'Sullivan. I hope that he keeps playing like this but also keeps focussing on his safety play wich is also a very important aspect of the game.

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Originally Posted by Bruno

Luca brazi :)

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He sleeps with the fishes................Never knew much about Snooker Bruno. You now have stirred my curiosity.:hmmm:

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Originally Posted by Nightblade

He sleeps with the fishes................Never knew much about Snooker Bruno. You now have stirred my curiosity.:hmmm:

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In a nutshell (without the pages of corner cases and special rules): the table has a maximum of 147 points to be scored. Whoever gets most points wins the 'frame'. If the scores are close to each other, the one on the losing side will try to create situations where the other person makes a foul, which also generates points (thus the term snooker). Whoever wins the majority of frames wins the game. The actual number of frames depends on the importance of the game. For the first rounds, this can be best of 11. For world championship finals, this is best of 35. Finals can span multiple days.

Points are scored by first potting a red ball, and then a ball of color. After it is potted, the colored balls (not the reds) get put back in their default spot, until all the reds are gone. At that point, the colors hae to be potted a final time, in a specific order. Different colors have different point values. The highest possible score (a 147) is attained by potting all 15 red balls, with the black potted after every red, and then the colors at the end. This is extremely difficult, and the highest achievement one can earn. The very best players of the world manage this about a dozen times in official matches.

There are a couple of fan favorites, but my personal favorite (and I think a majority of snooker players and fans alike) is Ronnie O Sullivan. When he is good, he plays perfect. When he has mental problems (he is a troubled person) he sucks. He plays hard, fast, and without hesitation. He holds several record, like the most career 147s, and the fastest 147. He also plays both left and right handed.

This is one of the most awesome frames ever played.
In the beginning you'll see a couple of great shots and some safety play. This gives you an idea of the game.
Now, usually, the colored balls stay near their spot during the game. In this particular frame, the table gets messed up completely (which is rare). From 10 minutes onwards however, you'll see Ronnie clear the table in a manner that almost noone could hope to achieve.

Ronnie O'Sullivan Magical 92 Clearance vs Ali Carter - 2012 WSC [Full Frame] (BBC) - YouTube

That really was a very nice frame Bruno. Always good to see the Rocket play.

Just saw the game of Luca Brecel vs Mark King. Mark really dominated the first 3 frames but after that Luca did a perfect job. He came back from 3-0 and won with 4-6. Amazing job by him. The pride of Belgium and what makes it even better is that he also is from Limburg. :y

Yes. Limburg Boven! Net zoals ons Kim :)

Luka's doing great. You can see that he still needs to mature a bit, but already he is kicking ass and taking names. If he keeps improing at this pace, he'll be a second Ronnie O' Sullivan. Hopefully without the mental issues.

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Originally Posted by Bruno

Yes. Limburg Boven! Net zoals ons Kim :)

Luka's doing great. You can see that he still needs to mature a bit, but already he is kicking ass and taking names. If he keeps improing at this pace, he'll be a second Ronnie O' Sullivan. Hopefully without the mental issues.

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That is my opinion to. At some points he seems to make some reckless decisions. But when you consider that he is only 17 years old you can forgive that. Today he played more mature than his last game. Playing safe in situations were potting was to risky.