Luca Brecel admits “partying” and being “drunk as hell” ahead of victory over Ronnie O’Sullivan
Ronnie O’Sullivan congratulates Luca Brecel (Photo by Zac Goodwin/Alamy/PA Images)
Luca Brecel admits he was “drunk as hell” and “partying until 6am” in the build up to his Quarter-Final win over Ronnie O’Sullivan at the World Snooker Championship.
Brecel sensationally reeled off seven consecutive frames from 10-6 down to stun the reigning and seven-time World Champion at The Crucible on Wednesday.
The Belgian had failed to win a match in his five previous World Championship appearances but continued his dream run to reach the hallowed one-table setup.
Brecel had admitted after his First Round win over Ricky Walden that he had barely practiced ahead of the tournament and had instead been playing darts.
The 28-year-old, who has been driving back to his home in Belgium in between matches, revealed after his memorable scalp of O’Sullivan that he had been out partying until the early hours in the aftermath of his Last 16 win over Mark Williams.
He told BBC Sport: “Before the tournament I was out partying, staying up late to 6 or 7am, playing FIFA with my friends, not practising.
“Even after I beat Mark Williams, I got home at 7am by car, and then we went out again until 5 or 6 in the morning, drunk as hell.
“The next day, I had to drive back up again, so it’s a totally different preparation, and it’s working.
“I even put it on social media because I don’t care what people think. Someone said to me, “you better win it now after going out”.
“For me, it’s a case of entertaining myself maybe because I know if I put it on social media people are going to talk about it, so I have something that motivates me, I want to prove them wrong. It’s all a bit of a game.”
O’Sullivan came in to the final session of the contest needing just three frames to progress to the Semi-Finals, but remarkably failed to register a break of over 30 in one of his most ragged one-session displays in 100 matches at The Crucible.
Brecel duly pounced upon The Rocket’s slump by powering in breaks of 112, 64, 72, 61, 78 and 63 to defeat the world number one for the first time since 2017.
On the match, he added: “It was a great feeling to play like that. I know that if the balls go well for me I can easily win seven frames in a row even against Ronnie, so I am not surprised.
“Mentally I was ready but physically I wasn’t feeling too well, I was sweating and my arm didn’t feel good. It is amazing to beat someone like Ronnie from so far behind.
“I felt good from 10-9 down. My cue ball improved when I got to 10-10 and every frame got better.”
Brecel will now face either Anthony McGill or Si Jiahui on Thursday, guaranteeing a first-time world finalist.
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