Brecel’s Crucible win ‘can help push on generation of snooker players’
Luca Brecel’s 18-15 win against Mark Selby on Monday at the Crucible can spearhead a new generation of snooker players, according to the World Governing Body of Snooker and Billiards chairman Jason Ferguson.
The Belgian became the first from continental Europe to win a world title in Sheffield when he beat his British opponent at the iconic theatre having beaten the likes of Ronnie O’Sullivan on his way to the final.
It was also a record-breaking tournament on television, too, with a 177 per cent increase in average audience for Belgium and Spain’s best performing edition on Eurosport.
“I often hear about the ‘Class of ‘92’ [including O’Sullivan, John Higgins and Mark Williams] and people constantly saying you’ll never replace them, but I can tell you the class that is coming through now is really going to push on the sport,” Ferguson said.
“The way Luca and Si [Jiahui] played is the way the game is supposed to be played. It’s magical watching them score.”