Snooker star admits he is ‘too LAZY’ to change his playing style after reaching round two following chaotic clash at World Championship

• The star staged an impressive comeback at the Crucible, having trailed 5-1
• A former world champion, the Belgian will now face Ding Junhui in the last-16
• He took pride in his game not being ‘boring’ but admitted it is somewhat ‘unique’ 

By LEWIS BROWNING

A snooker star has admitted he is ‘too lazy’ to change his ‘unique’ playing style after reaching the second round of the World Championship.

Luca Brecel, a former world champion, staged an impressive comeback against Ryan Day to fight back from 5-1 down in his first round match at the Crucible on Thursday evening.

He made a slow start to the game, trailing by four in the first session on Wednesday before winning the final three frames to cut the deficit to just one at 5-4 for the break in the tie.

Day broke 101 in the opening frame on Thursday to go two clear again, but Belgian Brecel was dominant from then on out, eventually winning 10-7 to set up a second round and last-16 clash with Ding Junhui.

It was an up-and-down game for No 7 seed Brecel, with the 30-year-old at times missing some important shots but also delivering some spectacular efforts.

He opened up on the game afterwards, claiming he knew he would win when he was two frames down – but that he won’t change the way he approaches games, despite said approach sometimes costing him.

A snooker star has admitted he is ‘too lazy’ to change his playing style after a dramatic World Championship win

Luca Brecel, a former world champion, edged past Ryan Day in the first round at the Crucible

He admitted he had confidence in his game during the match but said he will ‘go home’ if ‘everything doesn’t work’

‘I panicked,’ Brecel said of his early showing. ‘I have come back from a deficit here before and at 3-5 I already had the feeling that I could not lose anymore.’

‘I don’t mean to be disrespectful, we all know what Day is capable of. But he seemed very nervous to me and I was very relaxed.’

‘It’s a bit all or nothing. It’s the way I play and I’m too lazy to change that.

‘My playing style is unique. It can’t be called boring. There’s no plan B. With the way I play, everything has to work. And if it doesn’t work, I go home.’

The 18th frame proved crucial, with both players needing just the black ball to claim a victory which would have seen Day square things up at 8-8 or Brecel move 9-7 ahead.

Day potted the cueball, giving Brecel the advantage, and the Welshman found it hard going from there.

‘Even with a 5-1 lead I was looking over my shoulder and not looking forward,’ he said after the game. ‘I’m just not over-confident and I’m definitely not the player I once was.

‘I turn up and play and try. I’ve been doing it a long time so it’s obviously a lot closer to the end than the beginning. I would’ve beaten myself up the way I played if that had been a couple of years ago, but I’ve come to terms with it.

‘I still like competing, I just haven’t got the game that I had. As long as I’m on the tour I will still play and make a living out of it. I need to try to do something different [in matches] but I can’t see my game really improving much.’

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Snooker star admits he is ‘too LAZY’ to change his playing style after reaching round two following chaotic clash at World Championship

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