Luca Brecel may be kicked off snooker tour after refusing to stay in Northern Ireland | Other | Sport
Snooker star Luca Brecel has spoken out about how he is at risk of losing his Tour card after a disappointing run of form.
The Belgian won the 2023 World Snooker Championship with a victory over Mark Selby in the final. However, a year on, the 29-year-old is struggling for form and he will need to improve markedly if he is to remain on the Tour.
‘The Bullet’ is ranked 60th in the end-of-season rankings, just four places above the top 64 cut-off point. He will also see his £500,000 in prize money from the world title removed from his points total before the end of the season, which puts him at serious risk of a shock drop.
The world No. 6 is not fazed by the prospect of dropping down the two-year ranking list and being forced to earn it back in Qualifying School. Speaking to BBC Sport, Brecel explained: “I’m playing well enough – it’s just about bringing my practice game to the match table, then I’ll be OK. I just need to get on a run, that will come.
“I’m not worried about losing my Tour card as I would see it as a challenge to be in Qualifying School.
“I’d love to play in Q School one day so maybe this is the right time. Obviously, I’d love to stay on Tour as well so I’ll try my best. For now, I’m heading back to Majorca, I don’t know for how long.”
Following a last-32 exit from the Saudi Arabia Snooker Masters and being dumped out of the British Open in the third round, Brecel would have been keen to get his year back on track at the Northern Ireland Open.
However, he was beaten 4-1 by Pang Junxu in Belfast, having flown shortly before the match got underway.
Brecel was willing to travel to and from Mallorca in order to compete in the event as he wanted to continue training for an Ironman challenge on his non-playing days in Spain.
He touched down in Belfast just a matter of hours before He Guoqiang to the sword in the opening round of the competition on Sunday before returning to Mallorca for a further few days of training for the gruelling endurance challenge.
