Championship League Snooker news: Luca Brecel bags third career ranking title in Leicester
- Seb Sternik
- 30 July 2022
Belgium’s Luca Brecel powered to his second Championship League Snooker title with a 3-1 success over China’s Lu Ning in the final.
Brecel, who won the non-ranking version of this tournament back in 2020 with victory over Ben Woollaston, was forced to recover from an early loss before sealing his place in the final and securing the £20,000 winner's prize.
For the 27-year-old, this is his third career ranking title since joining the World Snooker Tour. The player landed his first crown in 2017 when he defeated Shaun Murphy to claim the China Championship.
His second triumph came in last season's Scottish Open after beating four-time world champion John Higgins in the final.
Brecel's journey to his third ranking title kicked off with a group stage 3-1 loss against Xiao Guodong.
The Belgian needed to bounce back strong, and that's exactly what he did with successive whitewash wins over Zhao Xintong and Lyu Haotian - wins which ultimately saw him top the group and secure his spot in the final.
The other group was topped by Lu Ning who managed to get the better of Ricky Walden, Stuart Bingham and Pang Junxu.
Lu kicked off the final with a 67 break in the opening frame, but that wasn't enough to claim it, as Brecel produced a sensational comeback to take a 1-0 lead.
The Chinese star levelled the score in the very next frame, but that was as good as it got for the 28-year-old.
🏆 LUCA BRECEL IS THE BETVICTOR CHAMPIONSHIP LEAGUE SNOOKER CHAMPION
— BetVictor Championship League Snooker (@CLSnooker) July 29, 2022
His third ranking event and second #ChampionshipLeagueSnooker title 👏
What an achievement! pic.twitter.com/umOvJ2uUgU
Brecel showed great form and produced breaks of 72 and 100 to come out a 3-1 victor at the Morningside Arena.
Speaking after the match, Brecel said: "I feel fantastic. I played so well for the whole tournament. I felt like I was playing in practice. I really enjoyed it.
"To be here as a winner is strange, because I could've lost the last game today, but I had to win 3-0 so it was crazy. Zhao missed a couple at the end with the rest which he usually makes.
"It's unbelievable. This is all your can wish for. It's the best start you can hope for. I can't wait to play in the next tournament in Germany."
