World number seven Luca Brecel admitted he was motivated to stop talk of his form, after coming from 3-1 down to beat Ding Junhui 4-3 and make the quarter-finals of the BetVictor Scottish Open in Edinburgh.
The Belgian has spent this season facing a potentially massive slide down the Johnstone’s Paint World Rankings, with his place in the top 64 under threat when his points for winning the 2023 World Championship drop off his ranking. This week’s exploits will go a long way towards staving off that prospect.
Brecel is a former winner of this event, having defeated Scotland’s four-time Crucible king John Higgins in the 2021 final. He finds himself just three wins away from capturing the Stephen Hendry Trophy for a second time. Next up Brecel faces Wuhan Open champion Xiao Guodong, who beat home favourite Stephen Maguire 4-1.
This afternoon it was China’s 15-time ranking event winner Ding who made the strongest start. Breaks of 125 and 126 helped him into a 3-1 advantage. However, with his back to the wall, Brecel claimed three on the bounce to secure victory and his first ever win over Ding in eight meetings between the pair.
“The difficult part was getting back to 3-3 and then in the decider I fancied controlling myself. He is good at that too though, so it was a tough victory,” said 29-year-old Brecel.
“A lot of people have been talking and you don’t want to have them keep talking. I wanted to get back. It is also that deep inside I want to get to a really high level again. I know that once I get back to my form I can win tournaments again. It is all there, I just need to put in the hours. I think my mindset is better than ever before, because I know what it is like to lose a lot of games. It is good to be back.“
Mark Allen survived a final frame decider to edge past Jack Lisowski 4-3 and keep his hopes of a second Scottish Open title alive.
Lisowski had an opportunity in the final frame, but after going into the pack early from the blue he was only left with a difficult red to middle. He missed and Allen stepped up with a match winning 68. That earns him a quarter-final with last year’s losing finalist Noppon Saengkham. The Thai came through with a 4-2 win over Ali Carter.
“As someone who really enjoys watching Jack play, you’d love to know what is going on in his head. He plays some great snooker and then misses one in the balls that you don’t expect at all,” said world number five Allen.
“I’m glad I’m still hanging around. There are three very tough matches in front of me, but it is nice to still be in the hat. I’ve played some decent stuff. From a poor start in my first game I played well against Ryan Day and decent there. Hopefully there will be more of the same tomorrow.”
World number 16 Chris Wakelin continued his tremendous current form with a 4-1 defeat of Xing Zihao. Next up he faces Wu Yize, who was a 4-3 victor against recent UK Championship finalist Barry Hawkins.
Lei Peifan came through a deciding frame to beat Stuart Bingham 4-3 and will now face recently crowned Shoot Out Champion Tom Ford, who prevailed 4-1 against Long Zehuang.
Ding made two centuries in the three frames he won but struggled to win the close frames. Luca’s break building isn’t what it was during the 2023 World Championship … yet. But he took some very daring shots, and got the majority of them. Some of the things he did at the table yesterday were out of this world. It was scary. Playing like that he puts a lot of pressure on his opponents, really A LOT. Some may go into their shell, some may lose confidence , some will cope … but I don’t think there is one player who would feel 100% at ease facing Luca at his best.
Wu Yize once again impressed me, and the hubby 😉. That kid is seriously good and mentally solid. Barry Hawkins isn’t an easy opponent. He’s shrewd and has all the experience in the world. Both played well. This one was a good match to watch.
The Mark Allen v Jack Lisowski match was a high scoring affair. There was only one close frame, the fifth and it was a crucial one. It’s a frame that Jack should have won but lost. What Allen said about Jack’s game is absolute spot on. As a fan, I find it very frustrating. I like Jack’s game. I like Jack as a person. I want to see him lift a trophy, he’s more than good enough. Grr…
Ronnie O'Sullivan 