The European under-19 Championship has been won in dramatic fashion by Belgian sensation Luca Brecel who at 14 years-old becomes the youngest-ever winner of the tournament. Click below for more…
Having reached the final with an extraordinary win over fellow rising star Jack Lisowski (complete with a break of 135 in the final frame), Luca Brecel came up against 19-year-old Englishman Michael Wasley in the final this afternoon and what a match it was.
Despite the age difference, there was nothing in it as the pair were level at 2-2, 3-3, 4-4 and eventually 5-5 as the match inevitably went to a deciding frame. In it both had their chances, but it looked like it would be Wasley who would take the title as he moved 21 points ahead with just the colours remaining. Having left the yellow slightly awkward however, it rattled the jaws of the green pocket, stayed there and Luca stepped in to make surely the biggest clearance of his career, celebrating with a fist pump as the black dropped in.
This is a some achievement for Luca because not only is he 14-years-old, but he is a very young 14 having celebrated his birthday just a couple of weeks ago. He now becomes the youngest-ever winner of the event, replacing Roger Baksa, Ian Preece and Michael White who all won the event aged 15.
Normally the winner of this event is guaranteed a place on the main tour for next season but as there is a strict age limit for professionals stating that only players aged 16 or over can take up their tour place, Luca will have to wait a couple of years yet. Whether this means that Wasley will take his tour place instead or whether this gives the WSA a third invite I am not sure…
Overall it has been a great tournament, you can check the full results here at Global Snooker. Well done to Jack Lisowski for making the semis, particularly for his 5-0 demolition of former champion Michael White and well done to Wasley for reaching the final, but it has been Brecel’s week and he is surely a name to keep an eye on over the coming seasons.
You can visit Luca’s website at: http://www.brecelluca.com/