Luca Brecel
| Name | Date of Birth | Country |
|---|---|---|
| Luca Brecel | 08-03-1995 | Belgium |
Name : Luca Brecel
Highest Ranking : 26 (December 2016)
Current Ranking : 28 (After 2017 Coral Shoot Out)
Highest Break : 140
Century Breaks : 61
Luca Brecel (born 8 March 1995 in Dilsen-Stokkem) is a Belgian professional snooker player. He won the European Under-19 title at the age of 14 and is the youngest player to play at the Crucible after qualifying for the 2012 World Championship aged 17. His first ranking event final came at the 2016 German Masters which he lost to Martin Gould.
Brecel became a professional snooker player in June 2011, beating Anthony Hamilton in his first official professional match. By August 2011, he was ranked 87 on the Snooker world rankings, as second Belgian after Bjorn Haneveer, then ranked 65. In January 2012, he made his first 147 break in an amateur tournament.[12]
Brecel played in all 12 of the minor-ranking Players Tour Championship events throughout the season, with his best finishes coming inEvent 2, Event 8 and Event 9, where he reached the last 32 each time. He finished 69th on the Order of Merit.
Brecel became the youngest ever player to qualify for the World Snooker Championship in 2012, after defeating Ian McCulloch, Barry Pinches, Michael Holt and Mark King. In doing so he broke the record of Stephen Hendry from 1986, as he was almost 2 months older than Brecel. He also became one of five players to qualify for the tournament under 18 years of age and played in his first ranking event main draw, but lost 5–10 in the first round against Stephen Maguire.
Although finishing the season outside the top 64 who automatically retain their places on the snooker tour, Brecel received a two-year wildcard, along with Tony Drago.