Luca Brecel forfeits match after not turning up to venue as snooker bosses issue statement | Other | Sport

Snooker star Luca Brecel has forfeited a match after failing to turn up to the venue, the World Snooker Tour (WST) has said. The former world champion was due to face Hammad Miah in a bid to qualify for the inaugural Xi’an Grand Prix in China next month.

Brecel’s opponent has been handed a 5-0 victory and will travel to China for the event. The WST has confirmed that the 29-year-old failed to arrive at the Leicester Arena, where the qualifying matches were taking place.

A WST statement read: “Luca Brecel has not arrived for his #XianGrandPrix qualifier this afternoon in Leicester.

“His opponent, Hammad Miah, has been awarded the match 5-0 and will be heading to China next month.”

Some of snooker’s biggest stars will head to China to play at the tournament in August, with a total £850,000 prize pot on offer. Qualifying matches for the ranking event have been split between Leicester and China.

John Higgins, Hossein Vafaei, Neil Robertson and David Gilbert are among the players who have already booked their places in the draw, having won matches in Leicester.

World champion Kyren Wilson and snooker icon Ronnie O’Sullivan are among several high-profile players who will face Chinese wildcard players in qualifying matches in Asia.

Brecel will not be there, though, having failed to turn up for his match. The Belgian is yet to comment on his absence.

Earlier this year, he suffered a disappointing defence of his 2023 World Snooker Championship triumph in Sheffield, losing to Gilbert in the first round. Brecel revealed afterwards that he had been battling a throat infection for a month.

“I wanted to go for a run but it wasn’t possible and it has been a bit tough these few weeks,” he said.

“Maybe if I was not defending champion I would’ve pulled out, but it’s too big to pull out when you are seeded and defending world champion. I was coughing all day but it’s not an excuse: I was just not good enough. I missed some balls and he played well and kept fighting.”

Brecel struggled with the attention of being the world champion.

He added: “It was a good year, but I look forward to not being a world champion again – I don’t like all the attention. I’ve been waiting for the season to end for a few weeks. It’s just a game, why should you be happy if you win and sad if you lose?”